STOCKHOLM: Volvo Cars, owned by China's Geely Holding, said on Wednesday it sold 40pc more cars in May than in April, as restrictions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic started to ease in several markets.

While still down 25.5pc in May from a year earlier, the Swedish car maker sold 44,380 cars in the month compared to the 31,760 sold in April, helped by improving showroom traffic trends in Europe, a quicker than expected recovery in the United States, and strong growth in China.

Volvo said China sales grew 21.8pc in May, while U.S sales inched down 2.5pc year-on-year but bounced back strongly from April as states started to ease restrictions in place due to the pandemic.

Its sales in Europe fell around 50pc in the month, still heavily impacted by restrictions in many countries, but Volvo said the region had shown signs of recovery compared with the previous month.