A Bumpy Start
After a strong start in 2021 and 2022, along with steady sales in 2024 and 2025, Volvo sales this year have been off to a bumpy start. First quarter sales in the U.S. fell off a cliff, as they were down by a staggering 32% compared to the same time last year. It picked up slightly in the second quarter, but by the halfway point of 2026, total sales were still down by 12%.
Clearly, something needs to be done before it kicks off a downward trend that’s hard to recover from. With that, Volvo’s main action plan is to boost dealer satisfaction with the brand.
Volvo
Incentives, Consistency Needed
In the National Automobile Dealers Association’s 2026 Winter Dealer Attitude Survey, dealers ranked Volvo 24th out of 32 brands. The survey was reviewed by Automotive News, and the company promises to do better. Scott Doering, who’s responsible for the automaker’s U.S. dealer network, spoke to the publication about how to regain satisfaction from the groups that sell its cars.
“We’re not happy with where we’re performing as a brand. We need to be better at getting a pulse of the issues that are in the dealer network, and that survey specifically is a fantastic mechanism to get a temperature of the network,” said Doering. For that, Volvo will be fixing its sales programs that, according to the publication, have frustrated dealers. “Rather than sort of judging what the offer needs to be up front, we were repeatedly making adjustments, and that just doesn’t work well from a dealer operation standpoint,” added the executive.
Volvo
The Products Will Be Improved, Too
To make the dealers happy is one thing, but making customers even happier is the ultimate end game. While Volvo’s plan should boost morale among its dealers, it won’t be of much use if the products have issues. The company is aware of some teething issues from some of its models, and Doering vowed to target those.
Lessening the number of over-the-air updates would be a start, as the goal now is to get it right the first time. Expect that process to be applied to future Volvo offerings, and if it succeeds, it should help the brand move up in the reliability rankings. In last year’s Consumer Reports reliability rankings, Volvo was in 15th place out of 26 brands. Sadly, the saying of ‘they don’t make ’em like they used to‘ applies to modern Volvos, but at least the company is doing something about it.
Volvo also has a slew of new cars coming in that, hopefully, have better initial quality than previous models. That also means the launch of the heavily updated XC60 will be crucial, as it’s easily the brand’s best-seller. It’s not just the improvements on the spec sheet that matter, but rather the entire ownership experience.
Volvo
