Volvo announces poor year to date and June sales.

Volvo Car Group reports global retail sales of 40,939 cars for the month of June. China grew by no less than 74 per cent to 5,798 cars - a new sales record - and by 34.3 per cent for the first six months. Also, the Volvo XC60 model had its best sales month ever with 10,961 sold cars. For the first half of 2013, global sales amounted to 209,118 cars, down 5.5 per cent versus last year.

The United States became Volvo Cars' number one market in June with 6,678 retail sold cars, where the Volvo S60 and XC60 models represented the majority of sales. For the first half year, Volvo sales in the US were down by 5.9 per cent. In Sweden, Volvo outperformed the market and grew by 6.3 per cent in June to retail sales of 4,607 cars. The Volvo V70 was the best-selling model in Sweden.

A new all-time sales record was recorded in China with 5,798 sold cars, up 74 per cent versus the same month last year. Sales were driven by the '60-series models with the Volvo S60 being the top seller with 2,288 sold cars - another record for a single month. So far this year, sales in China are up 34.3 per cent.

Both France and Spain gained sales in June while Europe as a whole is still down versus 2012. Japan is a growth market for Volvo with a 16.3 per cent increase in June driven by demand for the V-line cars with the Volvo V40 being the most sold model. Japan is up 11.3 per cent for the first half of 2013.