COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Volvo Cars' sales rose 6% year-on-year in July to 57,447 cars, driven by an increase in fully electric vehicles in Europe, the Sweden-based automaker said on Friday.

Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China'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 plug-in 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 Stockholm'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 mid-decade and hopes to sell only EVs by 2030.