Volvo Cars this week reported an 11 per cent decrease in April sales to 58,881 cars from a year earlier, sending its shares down.

Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China’s Geely, said in a statement sales of fully electric cars fell 32 per cent to account for 20 per cent of total sales volumes.

Sales of electrified cars as a whole, also including plug-in hybrids, were down 16 per cent to account for 45 per cent of total sales.

Volvo Cars, under pressure from US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, is juggling the task of working with Geely to cut costs while attempting to keep selling cars to US consumers, who favour hybrids and combustion-engine models.

The Sweden-based company, alongside European peers, also wants to win over Chinese customers despite stiff competition from local auto makers who offer more affordable EVs.

Shares in Volvo Cars, which in April withdrew its earnings forecast for the next two years in the face of tariffs, were down 3 per cent in morning trade, taking a year-to-date slump to 29 per cent.

The company did not provide detail on regional sales.