COPENHAGEN, Aug 2 Reuters Volvo Cars39; sales rose 6 yearonyear in July to 57,447 cars, driven by an increase in fully electric vehicles in Europe, the Swedenbased automaker said on Friday.

Volvo Cars, which is majorityowned by China39;s Geely Holding, said in a statement that total sales in Europe, the biggest market for Volvo Cars, were up 40, while sales in the United States and China fell by 11 and 31, respectively.

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, deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer Bjorn Annwall said in the statement.

Sales of fully electric and plugin hybrid models were up 49 compared to the same period of 2023, especially driven by Europe, and also accounted for 49 of all cars sold during July.

Shares in the company fell 0.7 by 0724 GMT, outperforming Stockholm39;s benchmark stock market index which traded down 2.

Volvo Cars aims to have electric vehicles account for half of its sales by volume by middecade and hopes to sell only EVs by 2030.

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik

Source Reuters