Sweden Full Year 2016: #1 car not a Volvo for the first time in 54 years

The Alltrack variant helped the VW Golf to a historical win. Picture mullersvarld.se 

* See the Top 50 All-brands and Top 333 All-models by clicking on the title *

Check out 66 years worth of Swedish Historical Data here

The Swedish new car market breaks an all-time volume record in 2016 thanks to deliveries up 8% to 372.296. Local carmaker Volvo retains the brands pole position but loses 1.5 point of market share due to stable sales, up just 17 units to 71.238. Reversely, both Volkswagen (15.5% share) and Audi (6.1%) gain 11% and complete the podium above Toyota (+9%), BMW (+13%), Kia (+20%) and Mercedes (+21%). Seat (+34%), Renault (+27%), Opel (+23%), Dacia (+18%), Mazda (+18%) and Peugeot (+14%) also make themselves noticed inside the Top 20. Further down, notice Tesla (+16%) Jaguar (+136%), Ssangyong (+635%) and DS (+173%).

Swedish new car sales: 1960-2016 with 2017 projection

But the big event of 2016 is to be found in the models ranking. This year Volvo has decided to discontinue the V70, the #1 vehicle in Sweden for the past 19 years (1997–2015). Despite combining V70 sales with its replacement, the S90/V90, the superstar Volvo lost the top spot during the second half of December, ending 2016 with 21.321 sales (-25%). That’s 763 less than the VW Golf, the new Swedish best-seller thanks to the arrival of an instant blockbuster variant: the Alltrack 4WD station wagon and despite deliveries down 3%. This is the first time in 54 years that there is no Volvo in the pole position in Sweden, the last time was in 1962 – the last year of reign of the VW Beetle.

The last time Volvo didn’t have a car at #1 in Sweden was in 1962 with the VW Beetle.

2017 will be a fascinating year to follow the evolution of the Swedish models ranking as Volvo buyers target different models and Volkswagen doubles the pressure to attract Volvo owners onto the Alltrack variants of its Golf and Passat. A testimony of how uncertain the 2017 outcome will be is the redistribution of cards in the models charts during the last quarter of 2016: the VW Golf led the way for four consecutive months between July and October, then the Volvo S/V60 soared to #1 for the first time in its career in November and finally the Volvo XC60 became the first SUV to ever hit #1 in Sweden in December, just as the XC90 surged into the Top 10…

The Volvo XC60 ranked #1 in Sweden in December.

Other great performers atop the 2016 Swedish models ranking include the Volvo V40 up 23% to #6, the VW Polo up 55% to #8, the Audi A4 up 19% to #11, BMW 5 Series up 22% to #14, Kia Sportage up 41% to #18, VW Tiguan up 30% to #19 and Mercedes E-Class up 52% to #21. Further down, notice the Peugeot 2008 (+109%), Renault Kadjar (+158%), Mazda CX-3 (+113%), BMW X1 (+120%), Hyundai Tucson (+139%) and Mercedes GLC (+194%) all fitting within the Top 60. The Renault Talisman (#113) is the most popular all-new nameplate for the year ahead of the Kia Niro (#132) and Seat Ateca (#140).

Previous month: Sweden November 2016: Volvo S/V60 best-seller for the first time

Previous year: Sweden Full Year 2015: Volvo XC60 snaps first podium, record market

Two years ago: Sweden Full Year 2014: Volvo V70 celebrates 18 years on top

Full Year 2016 Top 50 All-brands and Top 333 All-models vs. Full 2015 data below.

Full December 2016 Top 45 All-brands and Top 256 All-models below.