IT’S been three on the trot for Volvo Cars: three successive years of record sales, with 2016 seeing an increase of 6.2 per cent compared with 2015 with the sale of 534,332 cars worldwide.

Impressive stuff from the Chinese-owned Swedish manufacturer, led by the XC90 SUV and the new V90 with strong support from the mid-size XC60 SUV, which has set record sales in each of its nine years on the market.

This success story has been replicated in the UK with a 7% year-on-year increase underwritten by the V40/V40 Cross Country with strong supporting performances from the XC60 and XC90.

For Selwyn Cooper, head of business sales, “it’s never been a better time to work at Volvo.“

He continued: “The product range is motivational for staff. When we go to see clients we have a strong portfolio across the grade ranges from V40 to XC90. And we’ve never had that before. What’s more they are true contenders. We have all the constituent parts for the business user.”

I caught up with Selwyn at the back end of last year and he was in buoyant mood. Sales were up 8% on Q3 and fleet was up 3% on a like-for-like basis.

Selwyn put this down to the new XC90 coming on stream representing 30% of volume,  XC60 hitting “the sweet spot” and a facelift to V40 that made it more business orientated in terms of standard spec, along with limited volumes of S and V90 starting to come through.

Volvo Cars globally is heading towards a target of 800,000 vehicle sales globally, of which the UK is slated to do 60,000 of this target. That target is for 2020, just three years away.

“We are confident of our achieving our growth towards those figures,” affirms Selwyn. “Business sales are going to be key in this growth helped by new product. By 2020 XC90 will be the oldest car in the range.”

That’s some transformation of the steady-as-she-goes Volvo. The last XC90 was requested to do nearly 13 years’ service before it was replaced. But it’s in no small part to the ‘hands off’ backing given to the Swedish manufacturer by its Chinese owners Geely, who bought Volvo from Ford back in 2010.

And with the new XC60 due to be launched this year (2017) along with the XC40 compact SUV and V40 hatch (shown as 4.01 and 4.02 concepts), you begin to get some idea why Selwyn is upbeat about the company’s prospects.

The brand has come some way since it was just considered a purveyor of estate cars to antique dealers…

So with new product and increased sales on the horizon, what proportion of Volvo volume will be going through the leasing companies in 2017?

“Of the business sales some 70% will go through the leasing companies – and that volume is growing,” says Selwyn.

“We were in the low 60s a couple of years ago. There’s a further 5% on PCH and that is growing stronger – the Leasing Broker Federation Survey 2016 showed how strong PCH was becoming and we’re certainly witnessing that here at Volvo.”

Selwyn says that the biggest performer for Volvo in the leasing sector is the XC60 at just over a third, followed by the V40 (a similar percentage) and then the V60 at 11% and XC90 at 11%.

In terms of support for the leasing sector, Volvo has undergone something of an internal transformation.

“We’ve invested a dedicated head of total cost of ownership  – Graeme Oswald,” explains Selwyn.

“He manages used car disposal and manages total cost of ownership and residual values management. This role used to be split over two managers and now its been dovetailed under one to provide better efficiencies.

“We’ve replaced Graeme with Jonny Miller who joins from Glass’s and is our new leasing manager for the south.

“We’ve also invested in a manager for the Volvo Car business centre in Harrogate to provide more support. It allows the leasing team more time in front  of the leasing companies.

“With the product launches coming up, it’s key for us to spend as much time in front of those companies as possible.

“If I can invest in people going forward this is the area I would like to invest in. As leasing grows in importance we must match that.”

Finally, I ask Selwyn what is the one thing he would like to achieve with leasing companies in 2017?

“Grow our penetration in line with their growth in the market place,” he says.

He adds: “I think as car leasing grows in popularity, I would like to grow our penetration over and above our organic share.

“We want a bigger share of the leasecos volume. You then get a double win on that.”