Volvo Cars March-May sales volumes down 5.5% year-on-year

June 3 (Reuters) - Sweden-based Volvo Cars sold 178,980 cars in the three months through May, down 5.5% from the same period a year earlier, it said on Wednesday.

• China sales continued to face competition and macro pressures, while the United States was impacted by low customer sentiment and subdued demand but is showing early signs of recovery.​

• Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding, said sales volumes of electrified models, including fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars increased 3% to account for 48% of cars sold in the period.

• Fully electric car sales volumes rose 10% to account for 23% of total sales, while plug-in hybrid sales fell 3%.

• "Automotive industry, including the premium segment, continues to face intensifying headwinds across regions," the company said in a statement.

• Order pace in Europe, the company's largest region by sales, continued to grow through electrification, with deliveries of fully electric cars growing for the eight consecutive month, driven by the EX30 and EX40 models.

(Reporting by Jagoda Darlak, editing by Terje Solsvik)