The company, which also makes buses and construction equipment, said net sales increased by 17% in 2023 to 553 billion Swedish kronor (US$53 billion).

Net profit reached 49.9 billion kronor last year, up from 32.9 billion kronor in 2022.

But shares in the group slid on the Stockholm Stock Exchange after chief executive officer Martin Lundstedt warned of slowing order intake towards the end of the year.

He said this was “an ongoing normalisation of demand that reflects somewhat lower transport volumes and a weaker macroeconomy.”

Although new truck deliveries – which make up two-thirds of Volvo Group’s turnover – were up in the last three months of the year, orders fell 9% in the same period.

Net sales in the group’s construction equipment were also slightly down last year, which it said was mostly due to a continued decline in the Chinese market.

Lundstedt added that the company had managed to reduce lead times throughout the year and deliver a backlog of vehicles and machines that had extended since the pandemic.

Volvo Group, as well as the wider auto industry, were plagued by a shortage of key parts, including semiconductors after economies emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company said “further strains” may emerge on the supply chain from other events, “including financial distress of suppliers and consequences of the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical events”.