Volvo doesn’t currently offer a single passenger car in Australia, but the Chinese-owned Swedish brand is nevertheless expecting a resurgence in sedan sales Down Under.
SUVs have become the dominant new vehicle type in Australia, accounting for a whopping 57 per cent of sales last year.
That ever-growing demand for high-riding cars is reflected in Volvo’s local model lineup, which consists of six SUVs ranging from the small EX30 to the seven-seat XC90 and EX90 large SUVs.
Once firmly entrenched in the passenger car market, Volvo completely abandoned the space by killing off the V60 Cross Country crossover wagon and the related S60 sedan earlier this year.
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However, it will soon re-enter the large passenger car segment with the ES90, a flagship electric sedan that’s set to hit local showrooms in early 2026.
Volvo Car Australia managing director Stephen Connor is confident the new model can attract more interest than its petrol-powered predecessors.
“We’ve always had plans to bring in the ES90,” Mr Connor told CarExpert.
“We think that there’s an opportunity in that segment, and that’s why we brought that car in.
“The reason we took S60 and V60 out of this market is because they were only selling roughly 100 cars a year for us. There wasn’t enough volume for us.
“But with the ES90 being fully electric, we think we’re appealing to a new market. So absolutely, we’re trying the market, and I think the opportunity there is far bigger than we realise.”
The ES90 will be priced from $88,880 before on-road costs, while the flagship Ultra variant will command $107,990 plus on-roads. Competitors on both sides of that price bracket include the Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Genesis G80 and BMW i5.
Mr Connor says the success of the aforementioned Model 3 suggests there’s still demand for passenger cars in the Australian market.
“Look at some of the competitors, look at Tesla Model 3 – they’re selling about 1000 a month. So people are looking at cars now in the old way they used to do things,” he explained.
“People do still love passenger cars… and Australian consumers love them even more if they’re electric, either plug-in hybrid or fully electric.
“I think people are going ‘Actually, I love a car, my partner’s got an SUV… do we need two SUVs?’
“People are shifting their mindset and the ES90 is certainly ticking all the boxes.”‘
Mid-size and larger passenger cars have attracted 17,221 sales this year to the end of August, representing just over two per cent of all new vehicle sales.
Model 3 aside, the Toyota Camry remains a strong seller locally, while the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class have combined for just over 2000 sales so far in 2025.
Earlier this year the Volvo XC60 mid-size SUV surpassed 2.7 million global sales, overtaking the iconic Volvo 240 sedan/wagon/convertible as the best-selling Volvo of all time.
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