COPENHAGEN, March 5 (Reuters) - Volvo Cars'

sales fell 2% in February from a year earlier to 50,315 cars,

the Sweden-based group said on Tuesday, pointing to the timing

of the Lunar New Year in China as the main explanation for the

decline.

Shares in Volvo Cars fell 3.5% by 0832 GMT versus a 0.3%

drop in Sweden's benchmark index.

Volvo Cars, majority-owned by China's Geely Holding

, said in a statement sales of fully electric cars

were up 14% and accounted for 22% of all sales globally in the

month.

The company in January said it remained confident of

"tremendous growth" in the electric vehicles market. It expects

EVs to account for half of its sales volume by mid-decade and to

sell only EVs by 2030.

In China, sales were down 39% compared to the same month

last year due to the timing of the Lunar New Year, which this

year mainly took place in February, according to Volvo Cars.

Sales in Europe grew 26%, with sales of fully electric cars

increasing 31% from a year ago. At the same time, sales in the

United States fell 7%, dragged down by a 63% decline in the

sales of fully electric cars.

Some analysts have questioned Volvo's heavy focus on

electric cars, arguing the overall EV market is underperforming

and subject to strong competition from Tesla.

Volvo in 2023 sold a record 709,000 cars, up 15% and raising

the group's annual revenue by 21% to 399 billion Swedish crowns.

Fully electric cars represented 16% of its global sales.

Volvo Cars' share price has risen by 10% year to date but is

down 30% in the last 12 months.