Volvo announced that vehicles sales increased by 8.4 percent in August compared to the corresponding month last year, which is the company's 14th straight month of growth.

The increase in vehicle sales was largely boosted by healthy profits in China and sharp sales in western Europe, where Volvo has started using low-carbon emission engines for several car models.

According to a statement by Volvo, the company sold 29,257 units in August, which includes a 42.5 percent sales increase in China and a 19.4 sales increase in western Europe, with sales in both France and Germany up by over 50 percent.

"With continued positive developments in key markets, Volvo Cars is clearly on track towards an all-time high sales result for this year," said Volvo senior vice president for marketing, sales and customer service Alain Visser.

However, in the United States, which is the second-largest single market of Volvo, the company suffered a 10.1 percent decrease in sales.

So far in 2014, Volvo has sold a total of 294,709 units of vehicles, which is a 9.2 percent increase compared to the figures reported for the same period in 2013.

Volvo also turned around its earnings with a profit of $176.5 million in the first half, compared to a loss of $84.2 million in the first half of last year.

Volvo is looking to increase annual sales by nearly 200 percent to 800,000 units by 2020, and to establish its presence in the premium vehicle market that is dominated by rival car companies BMW and Daimler's Mercedes Benz.

To realize these goals, the company is planning to release nine new models over the coming four years, as Volvo looks to completely overhaul its car offerings.

The first of the nine new models, the 2016 Volvo XC90, was unveiled earlier in the week in Stockholm. The XC90 SUV will soon be followed by the unveiling of an S90 sedan and a V90 wagon.

All the new car models to be unveiled by Volvo will be using the company's unique Scalable Product Architecture platform, which is a modular structure and electrical framework.

A modified SPA platform will also be the foundation of the planned replacements for the XC60, S60 and V60 vehicles, with all three models being prepared to compete with the corresponding models from rival car companies.

Volvo will also be launching small 40-series vehicles, which will be manufactured using a new C-segment modular architecture platform. A compact crossover, a sedan and a wagon will be part of the series.

Volvo senior vice president of product strategy Lex Kerssemakers believes that the company will find success in creating 40-series vehicles with a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

"This is a technology in which we strongly believe," Kerssemakers said, adding that the platform will allow Volvo to create an all-electric vehicle in the future.

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Tags: Volvo
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