Volvo Cars of North America, LLC (VCNA) continues its drive toward a record year, reporting strong sales for all large platform cars, ending November with a sales increase of 36.9 percent over the same period in 2002. This is the 13th month of consecutive improvement in sales. For the month, Volvo Cars sold 10,639 units in the United States, which is 24.2 percent ahead of sales for last year at this time. The sales surpassed the old November record from 1999 by 300 units. "We are very pleased, not only with the continuous success of the XC90, but also by the performance of the rest of our large platform cars. It shows that Volvo today has a broader appeal to customers, said Vic Doolan, VCNA president and CEO. Aside from the sales success, the XC90 also garnered another set of awards during the month, moving its total accolades to 30, globally. Volvo's first SUV successfully defended its title as "Mudfest Champion" at the annual competition held by the Northwest Auto Writers Association. And, following the 'unthinkable' from last year's Texas Truck Rodeo in which a Volvo was named the "Truck of Texas™," the XC90 captured a category win, being named "Best Mid-Priced SUV." In addition, the Volvo XC90 was voted "Best SUV for 2003" in a Readers' Choice Poll conducted by In-Focus Magazine, a publication targeting professional African Americans. "This type of recognition shows that Volvo continues to address the needs of the segment, both in function and appeal," said Doolan. "We are also looking ahead to the introduction of our all-new S40 with its class leading safety and dynamic performance. This will be a very important vehicle for Volvo." The all-new S40 will arrive to showrooms in early spring 2004. Meanwhile, sales of the large platform vehicles (S80, S60, V70, and XC70), have been bolstered by recent new introductions. The R variants of the S60 and V70 and S80AWD have contributed to the success of attracting new customers into Volvo showrooms. Overall, NAFTA sales (United States - including Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico) are 22.9 percent ahead of last year. Volvo sales in Canada are up 10.8 percent for the month and 13.8 percent for the year. In Mexico sales were up over 50 percent for November, and have increased 3.7 percent over 2002. VCNA, part of the Volvo Car Corp. of Gothenburg, Sweden, provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to Volvo automobile retailers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The 2004 Volvo automobile line includes the XC90, the S60 sedan including the S60 R performance sedan and its performance wagon counterpart - V70 R, the flagship S80 luxury sedan, V70 wagon and XC70 (Cross Country), the C70 convertible, and the compact S40 and V40 models.