Volvo Cars of North America, LLC (VCNA) announced Jan. 5 from the North American International Auto Show that it has set a new all-time sales record, posting sales of 135,023 -- up 22 percent over last year. "2003 was a banner year for Volvo," said Vic Doolan, VCNA president and CEO. "We have had fourteen months of continuous sales growth. Volvo has been able to hold market share in a declining car market, and we greatly expanded our share of the SUV market, with our award-winning XC90," he said. The XC90 and it's sports wagon counterpart, the Volvo XC70 together lead sales of all European brands in the premium light truck sector. Doolan said the success can be attributed to the right mix of the model line-up; the right positioning -- true to the company's core value -- safety; and, the right pricing, as well as a styling that customers find appealing. For the month, Volvo Cars sold 11,798 units in the United States, which is up 3 percent from the 2002 total. The XC90 contributed 4,300 to the December results, and 35,791 sales for the year. In addition to its sales success, the XC90 has been the recipient of more than 30 awards globally, including Motor Trend's "2003 Sport/Utility of the Year," the 2003 North American "Truck of the Year," the 2003 "Truck of Texas™," and last month successfully defended its title as "Mudfest Champion" at the annual competition held by the Northwest Auto Writers Association, among other accolades. And looking ahead, the all-new Volvo S40 has its North American debut in Detroit this week. "With its class leading safety and dynamic performance, this will be a very important vehicle for Volvo," said Doolan. The all-new S40 will arrive to showrooms in early spring 2004. Volvo sales in Canada were up 14.3 percent for the month and 13.9 percent for the year. In Mexico, sales increased slightly at .8 percent over 2002. Volvo sales in North America (United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico) were up 20.9 percent for 2003, with a total of 148, 494 cars sold. VCNA, part of the Volvo Car Corporation 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 performance sedan S60 R and its performance wagon counterpart, the V70 R), the flagship S80 luxury sedan, V70 wagon and XC70 (Cross Country), the C70 convertible, and the compact S40 and V40 models.