Volvo Expects to Boost Car Sales 13% this Year

PARIS - Volvo Car Corp. expects a double-digit rise in unit sales this year, reported Automotive News and Reuters.

CEO Stefan Jacoby said the Swedish carmaker will sell 380,000 cars in 2010 worldwide, up 13 percent from the 335,000 cars sold last year.

Looking ahead to 2011, Jacoby told Automotive News Europe he expects recovery for Europe, where overall new-car sales were down 3.5 percent to about 9 million units in the first eight months. The decline is due mainly to the end of government-funded scrapping incentives that provides subsides to people who traded into their old cars for newer, more fuel-efficient models.

Jacoby said sales will stabilize in the near term and “we will see a steady growth,” adding: “Due to Volvo's product offerings, we will have good opportunities for growth not only in China but also in our core markets in Europe.”

Jacoby was speaking at the Paris auto show where Volvo launched the V60 station wagon.

The automaker forecasts annual sales of 50,000 V60s, with 90 percent of those sales in Europe. The car will go on sale in November.