Volvo Cars set a new global sales record in 2018, breaking the 600,000 sales milestone for the first time ever since the company was founded in 1927. The company’s sales rose 12 percent to 642,253 cars in 2018, compare to the same period the year before. This is the fifth consecutive year of global sales record for Volvo Cars.

The new sales record in 2018 underscores strong demand for Volvo’s renewed product portfolio, led by its award winning SUV line-up, across the core regions of US, China, and Europe. In December the company sold 60,157 cars, up 2.8 percent compared to a year before.

In the January to December period, US sales grew by 20.6 percent to 98,263 cars. The strong performance came on the back of a growing demand for its SUV line-up, led by the XC60. The made-in-the-US S60 cars have also started reaching dealerships and should contribute to volumes in 2019. In December, Volvo Cars sold 8,826 cars in the US market.

Sales in China grew by 14.1 percent to 130,593 cars during the year. The demand was spearheaded by the locally-assembled XC60 and the S90 models. For December, total sales in the region reached 11,868 cars, up 17.9 percent.

Europe also reported a strong performance in the year. Sales rose by 6.4 percent to 317,838 cars in the 12-month period compared to 2017. The robust performance was led by the new V60 and XC40 models. In December the company sold 29,469 cars in the region.