END OF YEAR UK - VOLVO - The Swedish brand ends the year 7% higher aided by new products.

• Volvo Car UK sold 46,696 cars in 2016
• 7% year-on-year increase
• V40/V40 Cross Country was Volvo UK's biggest seller, with 16,491 sold
• Strong performance from XC60 and new XC90
• Volvo Cars reveals global record-breaking sales figure of 534,332 in 2016

Volvo Car UK has secured its highest sales figures for a quarter of a century, with 46,696 cars sold in 2016. This is an increase of 7% on 2015's results, and demonstrates the quality and desirability of Volvo's range of premium cars.

The V40/V40 Cross Country was the highest-selling model in the UK, with 16,491 sold, followed by the ever-popular XC60 (16,038) and the new XC90 (5,801).

The figure for the XC90 is especially significant, since the XC90 is the first model built on Volvo's all-new SPA platform and powered exclusively by its ground-breaking Drive-E powertrains.

This strong UK performance helped Volvo Cars achieve a third consecutive year of record sales, selling 534,332 cars globally in 2016 (up 6.2% on 2015's figure).

Commenting on the sales performance, Jon Wakefield, Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, said: "2016 was a superb year for everyone at Volvo. We sold more than 46,600 cars in the UK for the first time in 25 years and increased our market share – and with another exciting year of new technologically advanced and stunning Volvos coming in 2017, we're confident this positive momentum will continue."