Sweden January 2018: Volvo S/V90 triumphs, XC40 lands at #44

The Volvo S/V90 sells double any other nameplate in market in January.

* See the Top 42 All-brands and Top 260 All-models by clicking on the title *

After two successive record years in 2016 and 2017, the Swedish new car market starts 2018 on the wrong foot: down 1.3% in January to 22.980 units. Homegrown brand leader Volvo manages a meagre 0.3% year-on-year increase to lodge a 20.6% share, symbolically above both the 20% mark and the 19.9% it commended over the Full Year 2017. In contrast Volkswagen plunges 20% to 15% vs. 15.2% in 2017, while Toyota surges 24% to 3rd place, distancing Kia (+8%) that managed to snap the 2017 #3 spot in-extremis. Skoda soars 41% year-on-year and four spots on December to #5, but Peugeot (+15%) is the only other double-digit gainer in the Top 10, with Ford (-13%), BMW (-5%), Mercedes (-4%) and Audi (-4%) all posting declines. Further down, DS (+350%), Ssangyong (+200%), Jaguar (+67%), Dacia (+46%), Suzuki (+43%), Subaru (+35%), Nissan (+30%), Jeep (+19%) and Lexus (+15%) impress whereas Tesla (-82%), Citroen (-42%), Fiat (-27%), Mitsubishi (-26%), Opel (-23%), Renault (-19%), Mazda (-17%), Land Rover (-16%) and Hyundai (-14%) disappoint.

The Octavia (+70%) helps Skoda soar 41% this month.

Model-wise, the race is obliterated by a stellar performance by the Volvo S/V90 up 43% to just under 2.000 sales and a record 8.7% share, the nameplate’s third consecutive month at #1 and 5th consecutive month-on-month market share increase from a low of 3.3% last August. The S/V90 sells double the amount of the #2, the Volvo S/V60 down 9% to 4.8%, with the VW Passat (-6%) rounding up the podium ahead of the VW Golf (-31%) and Volvo XC60 (-41%) both on steep descents. The Volvo V40 (+1%) and VW Tiguan (-14%) replicate their 2017 rankings at #6 and #7 respectively while the Nissan Qashqai (+60%), Skoda Octavia (+70%) and Mercedes E-Class (-7%) close the Top 10.

The Volvo XC40 lands directly at #44 at home.

Notice also the Toyota C-HR (+247%), Kia Optima (+242%), Subaru XV (+194%), Kia Niro (+86%), Peugeot 3008 (+81%), Toyota RAV4 (+58%), BMW 3-Series (+50%) posting spectacular gains and the Skoda Kodiaq up to #22 vs. #49 in FY2017. For its very first month in its home market, the Volvo XC40 lands directly atop of all recent launches (<12 months) at #44. It is followed by the VW T-Roc at #58 (+84 spots on December), the Kia Stonic at #73 (-5), the Skoda Karoq at #100 (+56), Citroen C3 Aircross at #112 (+18) and the Seat Arona at #124 (+28).

Previous post: Sweden Full Year 2017: Volvo reclaims #1 models spot with old gen XC60

One year ago: Sweden January 2017: Volvo S/V90 now has VW Golf in sight

Full January 2018 Top 42 All-brands and Top 260 All-models below.