(Yicai) Aug. 5 -- Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, saw its sales plunge 31 percent in China last month, mainly because of a decline in fossil fuel car sales.

Volvo sold 9,755 cars in July, of which 8,645 were fuel-powered ones, down 34 percent from a year earlier, the automaker announced on Aug. 2. Of the 1,130 electric vehicles sold in the period, only 832 were plug-in hybrid cars, down 9 percent in the period. The remaining 298 were pure EVs, up 18 percent.

In the first seven months of the year, Volvo’s sales declined 5 percent to about 88,000 units from the same period last year, the firm noted.

Traditional luxury carmakers face pressure in the Chinese market because of the quick electrification process and the popularity of domestic marques. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, Chinese self-owned new energy vehicle brands accounted for nearly 73 percent of the country’s retail sales in June, while NEV brands under luxury carmakers took up only 30 percent.

Volvo’s global sales rose 6 percent to 57,447 units last month from a year earlier, of which 27,879 were NEVs, up 49 percent in the period. Its fuel car sales fell 17 percent to 29,568 units.

Between January and July, Volvo sold a total of 445,500 cars worldwide, up 13 percent from the same period last year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione