STOCKHOLM - Volvo Cars recorded an operating loss of minus 989 million SEK ($110 million) in the first half of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the company's press release Tuesday.

During the first six months, the company sold 269,962 cars with a revenue of 112 billion SEK, a decrease from 340,826 in the same period last year with 130 billion SEK in revenue, it showed.

Volvo Cars said it returned to sales growth in China and the United States in the second quarter, with the company recovering gradually from the COVID-19 crisis, which allows for production resumption in almost all factories.

"The downturn we saw in the first half is a temporary one," said Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive officer of Volvo Cars. "We expect to see a strong recovery in the second half of the year and our Recharge range of electrified cars puts us in a strong position to meet the emerging trends we are seeing."

The company said later this year it would start production of the XC40 P8 Recharge, its first fully electric model, and launch the first of several fully electric models in the coming years.

"This pandemic has strengthened our confidence that our strategic ambitions are the right ones and that an accelerated transformation of our business will lead to long-term growth," said Samuelsson. "We will continue to focus on and invest in electrification, online sales and connectivity."

Volvo Cars, acquired by Chinese automaker Geely in 2010, employed an average of 36,278 people globally during the first six months of 2020.