Norway 1957-1958: Volvo 444/544 takes the lead
Volvo PV444
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Rene *
The Norwegian car market is in strong progression over the period, up 58% in 1957 to 16,989 registrations and a further 10% in 1958 to 18,619 units. Surprise in both years: the VW Beetle is not #1, it is the Volvo 444/445/544 instead, delivering an outstanding 3,219 sales in 1957 for a huge 18.9% market share and 3,232 units in 1958 at 17.4%. As far as I know the Volvo managed to rank #1 in Norway while in its native Sweden at the same time the VW Beetle was still #1…
In third position in both years the Opel Olympia/Rekord sells 1,223 units in 1957 at 7.2% of the market and 1,411 in 1957 at 7.6%. Moskvich resists in 1957 at #4 but falls to #9 in 1958 while the Skoda climbs 4 spots to #4 in 1958. The Opel Kapitan ranks #5 in 1957 and is replaced by the Ford Taurus 17M in 1958.
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Full Year 1957 and 1958 Top 10 Ranking Tables below.
Norway Full Year 1957:
| Pos | Model | 1957 | % | /56 | 1956 | % | Pos |
| 1 | Volvo 444/445/544 | 3,219 | 18.9% | 534% | 508 | 4.7% | 7 |
| 2 | VW Beetle | 2,183 | 12.8% | 44% | 1,518 | 14.1% | 1 |
| 3 | Opel Olympia/Rekord | 1,223 | 7.2% | 104% | 599 | 5.6% | 6 |
| 4 | Moskwich | 922 | 5.4% | 32% | 698 | 6.5% | 5 |
| 5 | Opel Kapitan | 732 | 4.3% | 66% | 440 | 4.1% | 9 |
| 6 | Ford Anglia | 701 | 4.1% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 7 | Hillman | 639 | 3.8% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 8 | Skoda | 607 | 3.6% | -21% | 772 | 7.2% | 4 |
| 9 | IFA | 606 | 3.6% | -47% | 1,143 | 10.6% | 3 |
| 10 | Ford Taunus | 594 | 3.5% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Norway Full Year 1958:
| Pos | Model | 1958 | % | /57 | 1957 | % | Pos |
| 1 | Volvo 444/445/544 | 3,232 | 17.4% | 0% | 3,219 | 18.9% | 1 |
| 2 | VW Beetle | 3,059 | 16.4% | 40% | 2,183 | 12.8% | 2 |
| 3 | Opel Olympia/Rekord | 1,411 | 7.6% | 15% | 1,223 | 7.2% | 3 |
| 4 | Skoda | 850 | 4.6% | 40% | 607 | 3.6% | 8 |
| 5 | Ford Taunus 17M | 772 | 4.1% | 30% | 594 | 3.5% | 10 |
| 6 | Opel Caravan | 688 | 3.7% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 7 | Opel Kapitan | 619 | 3.3% | -15% | 732 | 4.3% | 5 |
| 8 | Saab | 597 | 3.2% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 9 | Moskwich | 522 | 2.8% | -43% | 922 | 5.4% | 4 |
| 10 | Volga | 520 | 2.8% | new | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Source: www.bilnorge.no, many thanks to Rene for sharing the data!
