Volvo Car Corp., tapping China as a key export hub, launched shipments of the XC40 compact crossovers to South Africa.
The vehicles, loaded on an ocean liner in Shanghai on Sunday, are scheduled to dock at South Africa’s Durpan port in mid-June, Volvo’s China sales company said.
The XC40 also will be exported to other countries, including those in the Americas, Oceania and Asia, the company added.
It is the fourth vehicle Volvo has shipped to other markets from plants in China, following the S60 and S90 sedans and the XC60 crossover.
In China, Volvo builds the S60 and XC60 in the southwest city of Chengdu. The S90 is manufactured in Daqing.
The XC40 is built at Geely Automobile Holdings’ factory in the east city of Luqiao. Volvo and Geely are both owned by private Chinese company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
China is Volvo’s largest market globally. The Swedish brand’s local deliveries, dampened by the coronavirus outbreak, dropped 16 percent to 35,504 in the first four months of the year.
In 2019, Volvo’s China sales rose 19 percent to 154,961.
Volvo also produces two models for its electrified performance-vehicle brand Polestar – a hybrid coupe and an electric sedan – in Chengdu for global markets, along with Geely Group.