Volvo Cars announced a 6% increase in global sales for July, reaching 57,447 vehicles, primarily due to rising demand for fully electric vehicles in Europe.
The Sweden-based automaker, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely Holding, noted that European sales surged by 40%, while sales in the United States and China declined by 11% and 31%, respectively.
Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer Bjorn Annwall remarked, “We are pleased to report another month of sales growth, which is driven largely by the sales in Europe despite a generally challenging market environment.”
Sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid models grew by 49% year-on-year, representing 49% of total sales for the month.
Following the announcement, Volvo Cars’ shares decreased by 0.7% by 0724 GMT, though this was an improvement compared to Stockholm’s benchmark stock market index , which fell by 2%.
Volvo Cars has set a target for electric vehicles to make up half of its sales volume by the middle of the decade and aims to transition to selling only electric vehicles by 2030.