SDLG sale hits Volvo CE Q1 sales, but market remains strong

Volvo CE ECR355 short-swing excavator (Photo: Volvo CE)

In June 2025 Volvo CE announced that it had signed a contract to sell its ownership in China-based SDLG to a fund predominantly owned by the Lingong Group (LGG). As a result of this, sales were down in Asia for Volvo CE for the first quarter of the year from SEK 7,362 million (US$794.53 million) to SEK 3,426 million (US$369.1 million).

In a press release the OEM said that, during the first quarter, the global machine market continued to grow. South America, Africa and Oceania, as well as Asia outside of China saw increases while North America was at a similar level as the previous year.

Volvo CE said that it saw organic sales growth of 14%, of which net sales of machines increased by 16% and service sales increased by 7%.

“In spite of ongoing headwinds, this has been a positive start to the year, driven by increased deliveries of machines and a strong product mix that has enabled us to increase our share of the market for haulers and large excavators,” said Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE.

“We continue to grow our parts and services businesses. We take this momentum into the second quarter, maintaining our focus on delivering a solid full-year performance and on advancing the transformation of our industry.”

In Q1, as part of a long-term strategic shift and due to the unsustainable profitability of the Rokbak business, Volvo CE announced in March that it would close the business and concentrate resources on its portfolio of other hauling solutions. The production of Rokbak articulated haulers is scheduled to stop in July 2026.

On February 1, Volvo CE announced that the acquisition of Swecon had been completed, following approval from the European Commission. Volvo CE acquired Swecon’s business operations in Sweden, Germany and the Baltics including Entrack.

Volvo Construction Equipment, net sales by market area, in Millions of Swedish Krona (SEK). Image: Volvo CE