Volvo Cars' sales rise in December, but down for 2022 amid supply chain headwinds

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden-based Volvo Cars said on Thursday its car sales grew in December but fell for the full year due to lockdowns in China, component shortages and other supply chain trouble.

Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding, said sales grew 13% year-on-year in December to 72,663 cars, a slight acceleration from November, but that 2022 sales fell 12% to 615,121 cars.

"Full year sales performance was affected by challenges across the supply chain, as well as production restraints caused by component shortages and Covid-related lockdowns in China," it said in a statement.

"Despite this, demand for Volvo Cars remained robust," it said.

Shares in the company were down 2% in early trade.

Volvo Cars said fully electric vehicles in December accounted for 20% of car sales, unchanged from the previous month. Recharge models, including those not fully electric, accounted for 44% in the month, up from 42%.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz Janowski)