STOCKHOLM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chinese-owned Volvo Car Group's sales rose 9.4 percent in January from the same month last year as sales of the its new flagship XC90 SUV model helped it post double-digit growth in China and the United States.
Sales increased in all the company's major markets to reach a total 33,761 cars, with the United States up 11.8 percent and China 22.9 percent higher.
The sales rise in China follows a strong end to 2015 with increases of more than 15 percent for both November and December in that market.
The Sweden-based company, owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and one of Sweden's biggest employers, said sales in Western Europe grew 6.0 percent in the month.
Volvo Car Group, which targets sales of 800,000 cars in the medium term as it seeks to take on German heavyweights such as Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and BMW, posted record sales in 2015, selling 503,127 cars worldwide. (Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard)