Volvo Car Group
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VOLVO CAR GROUP GROUP CAR VOLVO Freedom to Move in a personal, sustainable and safe way. ANNUAL REPORT 2018 VOLVO CAR GROUP ANNUAL REPORT 2018 FREEDOM TO MOVE IN A PERSONAL, SUSTAINABLE AND SAFE WAY A GLOBAL FOOTPRINT Our cars are produced in factories around the globe; Gothenburg in Sweden, Ghent in Belgium, Chengdu, Daqing and Luqiao in China and Charleston in the US. Our mobility and subscription services are developed in Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden for consumers all over the world. Together our operations deliver on consumer demand for current and future mobility. Volvo Car Group is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW 2 2018 in Brief 4 Market Highlights 6 CEO Comment THE WORLD AROUND US 10 Changing Consumer Demands ... 12 ... and Technology Shift ... 14 ... Opens New Opportunities 16 The Volvo Car Group OUR STRATEGIC JOURNEY 20 Company Purpose 22 Strategic Framework 24 Company Transformation 26 Game Changing Business Transformation CREATING VALUE 36 Creating Sustainable Value and Growth 39 Product Creation 57 Manufacturing and Logistics 63 Consumer Experiences 67 People 75 Society MANAGEMENT REPORT 79 Board of Directors’ Report 82 Enterprise Risk Management 87 Corporate Governance Report FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 94 Contents Financial Report 95 Consolidated Financial Statements 100 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 140 Parent Company Financial Statements 142 Notes to the Parent Company Financial Statements 148 Auditor’s Report 150 Board of Directors 152 Executive Management Team SUSTAINABILITY – TABLES AND FACTS 154 Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality Analysis 156 Sustainability Scorecard 161 GRI Index 163 Auditor's Limited Assurance Report on Sustainability OUR HERITAGE 164 Looking Back Helps Us Look Forward ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | VOLVO CAR GROUP 1 2018 IN BRIEF NET REVENUE EBIT RETAIL SALES MSEK MSEK UNITS 250,000 20,000 700,000 600,000 200,000 15,000 500,000 150,000 400,000 10,000 300,000 100,000 200,000 5,000 50,000 100,000 0 0 0 14 15 16 17 18 14 15 16 17 18 14 15 16 17 18 2 VOLVO CAR GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2018 2018 IN BRIEF 2018 in Brief First US manufacturing plant inaugurated The production start of the new S60 in the Charleston plant was a proof point of our strategy to build where we sell. The Charleston plant confirms our expanded manufacturing footprint and established the company as a truly global car manufacturer with plants in all three regions. Portfolio renewal completed With the S60 and V60 launched, our portfolio renewal was completed. For the second consecutive year ... Volvo Cars was recognised as one of the World’s Most Ethical Company® by the Ethisphere Institute. RETAIL SALES RETAIL SALES KEY FIGURES BY MARKET BY CARLINE MSEK 2018 2017 Net revenue 252,653 208,646 Research and development expenses –12,098 –10,187 Operating income, EBIT 14,185 14,061 Net income 9,781 10,225 EBITDA 28,593 26,159 Operating and investing cash flow 4,705 –3,800 Net cash 18,029 12,513 Gross margin, % 20.0 22.4 Europe, 50% S, 15% EBIT margin, % 5.6 6.7 China, 20% V, 29% EBITDA margin, % 11.3 12.5 US, 15% XC, 56% Other, 15% ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | VOLVO CAR GROUP 3 MARKET HIGHLIGHTS Market Highlights Volvo Cars reached a new milestone in 2018, selling over 600,000 cars for the first time in its history. This key step in our ambitions follows double digit growth across 7 of our top 10 markets, contributing to a global growth of 12 per cent. EUROPE CHINA 7% 14% 318,235 (298,948) UNITS 130,593 (114,410) UNITS INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT The auto industry in Europe recorded a slight decline, marked The auto industry in China experienced its first decline in auto by new WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light-duty Vehicles sales in over 20 years, dipping 5.7 per cent during 2018. Test Procedure) rules which were implemented in September Despite softening, the premium market delivered growth of 2018, creating a sell-off prior to the implementation and testing 8.5 per cent. bottlenecks post the implementation. SALES PERFORMANCE Volvo Cars' sales growth remained resilient, driven by SUV Despite market headwinds, strong demand continued for sales following the introduction of the popular Volvo XC40 Volvo cars in China, achieving double digit growth and driven during the year. All main markets resumed growth apart from by the locally produced S90 and XC60, followed by the XC90. Sweden, due to one-off events in the market. 4 VOLVO CAR GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2018 MARKET HIGHLIGHTS US 0THER 21% 24% 98,263 (81,504) UNITS 95,162 (76,715) UNITS The US car market recorded a small 0.3 per cent growth, as In other regions, the auto industry fell in Japan and Canada by growth in the light truck segment was offset by a decline in the 1.5 and 1.9 per cent, and increased in Russia and Brazil by 12.8 passenger car segment. Despite this, demand for premium XS and 13.1 per cent, respectively. SUVs was on the rise. Growing faster than the local market, Volvo Cars recorded Retail sales growth in other markets remained robust at 24.0 growth above 20.0 per cent driven by strong demand for our per cent, driven by higher demand for our SUV portfolio. award-winning SUV line-up, especially our newest models the The biggest market was Japan whereas the fastest growing XC40 and the XC60. market was Brazil at 88.8 per cent. ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | VOLVO CAR GROUP 5 CEO COMMENT CEO Comment For the first time in our history, we broke the 600K mark with 642,000 cars sold. Our award-winning SUV line-up together with our strengthening brand continue to drive demand and we have gained market share across all our regions, despite geopolitical uncertainties. With the XC40, the Group has successfully entered a new and Strategic partnerships are a crucial part of our strategy for fast-growing segment. In total, revenue grew 21 per cent, autonomous driving development. Following our collaboration another important step on our growth journey. with Uber, we intend to join forces with Baidu and have deep- ened our ties with NVIDIA. Operating income remained flat at SEK 14bn which, consider- ing new tariffs and increasing price competition, especially in Looking ahead, we see a continued positive market segment in China, is an acceptable result. However, our margin decreased, Europe and the US. In China, the demand for cars has softened and does not live up to our longer-term ambitions. Encourag- for the first time in recent history, though to a lesser extent in ingly, our free cash flow for the year remained positive even the premium segment. after our strategic investments in technology and increased capacity. In Europe, one factor driving our growth was we offered all cars in line with the new WLTP emission standards without delay, “We have a unique which very few competing brands managed. Investments in our global manufacturing structure, including the new US opportunity to scale our plant, have been well timed considering emerging tariff issues. In this respect, we have promoted balanced free trade, which business and improve our we believe is best both for the industry and the consumer. brand awareness.” We continued our electrification transformation as our Twin Engine sales increased by 65 per cent, reaching an 8.5 per cent share of our total SPA car sales. Polestar, our affiliate company revealed its first fully electric car, the Polestar 2, in February During 2019, we plan to continue driving growth in our sales 2019. It will be followed by a fully electric Volvo XC40, globally, and increase our market share, even though this will based on the same technology shared between Volvo Cars and mean continued pressure on our margins. With our strong and Polestar. very competitive product offering, we have a unique opportu- nity to scale our business and improve our brand awareness, Our sustainable approach to business will continue to influence which is key for Volvo Cars’ strategic development. both our products and our operations. We will focus on mini- mising our environmental impact and taking social responsibil- ity, while generating economic value. Our commitment and Håkan Samuelsson support for the UN Global Compact and to conduct business in President and CEO a responsible manner remain strong. 6 VOLVO CAR GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2018 CEO comment ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | VOLVO CAR GROUP 7 8 VOLVO CAR GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2018 The automotive industry is currently going through a significant transformation driven by changing consumer behaviours, technology shifts and digitalisation. This will open up interesting opportunities for progressive players who are willing to drive the progress. ANNUAL REPORT 2018 | VOLVO CAR GROUP 9 THE WORLD AROUND US Changing Consumer Demands ... A number of major macro trends are impacting our operations including the importance of convenience, extensive and rapid digitalisation, ongoing urbanisation and an ever growing focus on environmental and social responsibility. CONSUMER CONVENIENCE DIGITAL LIFESTYLES As the world develops, luxury is being redefined as time. Driven Smartphones are now naturally integrated into the daily lives by digitalisation and technical innovations, new solutions that of any digital native. The digitally savvy population is increase convenience and free up time, are continuously being connected, open, outspoken (on social media) and look to offered. An increasing number of people seek access to prod- interact with the world around, acting in digital ecosystems ucts and services when they are needed and pay per usage that they expect to access always and everywhere. instead of owning a product and having to take care of it.