Volvo suffered loss in 2006
Volvo Cars suffered a loss last year, figures released on Thursday show. But the figures do not show complete results for the company, and exclude results in eight markets, including the Unites States. Several billion kronor was transferred to parent company Ford during the period.
The company made a full-year loss of 720 million kronor, compared to a profit on 5.3 billion the previous year.
"If you look at this annual report it is of course correct, but it is not complete because it does not report on the company as a whole. Since Ford bought Volvo it has not been possible to compare annual reports, as there are different types of legal structure," said Volvo Cars' information manager Olle Axelson.
Axelson admitted, however, that 2006 had been a difficult year for the Swedish carmaker.
"The fact that sales volumes have gone down over the past few years has naturally had an effect on profitability. Last year was tough, largely because of rising commodity prices, the weak dollar and the fact that we didn't produce our new cars at the rate we would have liked to."
Axelson added that while the first three quarters of 2006 were difficult for Volvo, the end of the year saw the company's situation start to improve, an improvement that has continued in 2007. He said that the poor sales figures for 2006, when the company sold 428,000 cars, had turned the corner. The company still expects to meet its goal of selling 600,000 cars a year over the next few years.
"It would naturally have been nice to have total transparency of our results and our business. But we are a subsidiary of Ford, and they're the ones who decide. What I can say is that our owners know exactly how things went last year, and they have not expressed anything other than satisfaction with the group of which Volvo is a part," Axelson said.
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The company made a full-year loss of 720 million kronor, compared to a profit on 5.3 billion the previous year.
"If you look at this annual report it is of course correct, but it is not complete because it does not report on the company as a whole. Since Ford bought Volvo it has not been possible to compare annual reports, as there are different types of legal structure," said Volvo Cars' information manager Olle Axelson.
Axelson admitted, however, that 2006 had been a difficult year for the Swedish carmaker.
"The fact that sales volumes have gone down over the past few years has naturally had an effect on profitability. Last year was tough, largely because of rising commodity prices, the weak dollar and the fact that we didn't produce our new cars at the rate we would have liked to."
Axelson added that while the first three quarters of 2006 were difficult for Volvo, the end of the year saw the company's situation start to improve, an improvement that has continued in 2007. He said that the poor sales figures for 2006, when the company sold 428,000 cars, had turned the corner. The company still expects to meet its goal of selling 600,000 cars a year over the next few years.
"It would naturally have been nice to have total transparency of our results and our business. But we are a subsidiary of Ford, and they're the ones who decide. What I can say is that our owners know exactly how things went last year, and they have not expressed anything other than satisfaction with the group of which Volvo is a part," Axelson said.
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