COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Volvo Cars’ sales rose 3% year-on-year in October to 61,686 cars driven primarily by an increase in sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid models in Europe, the Sweden-based automaker said on Monday.
Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely Holding, said in a statement that sales in Europe, its biggest market, were up 21% to 30,167 cars compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile sales in the U.S. declined 17% and sales in China decreased 10%.
Sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid models were up 40% globally to account for 48% of cars sold in the month. In Europe alone, sales of electrified models increased 46% compared to last year.
Shares in Volvo Cars rose 1.3% in early trade, outperforming Stockholm’s benchmark index which was up 0.6%.
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Stine Jacobsen)
