Sweden January 2015: VW Passat back on podium, BMW 5 up to #7

The new model lifts the VW Passat back onto the Swedish podium.

* See the Top 221 All-models and Top 32 All-brands by clicking on the title *

Excellent start of the year for new car sales in Sweden, up 9% in January to 20,408 registrations and marking 13 consecutive months of year-on-year gains. Volvo follows the market at +10% to a round 20% market share above Volkswagen (+12%) and Toyota (+17%) while BMW and Audi lodge very strong months at 6.6% and 6.4% share respectively. Peugeot is up 28%, Skoda up 32%, Nissan up 56% and Mitsubishi up 130%, reversely Dacia plummets down 39% – very unusual for the low-cost brand – and both Mazda and Hyundai drop 28%.

Outstanding 7th place for the BMW 5 Series in Sweden.

The Volvo V70 delivers another stunning month in the Swedish pole position at 8.3% market share, followed by the VW Golf at 5.9% and the VW Passat back up 3 spots on December to climb back onto the podium now that the new model is spreading into dealerships across the country. Outstanding performance of the BMW 5 Series up to #7 thanks to 400 sales and 2% share, a ranking it also hit last February, and the Audi A6 up to #11. Interesting to note that these two nameplate are their respective brand’s best-sellers in Sweden despite being far from the most affordable options. Notice also the Skoda Octavia up 15 spots on last month to #9, the Peugeot 308 up 14 to #17 and the Mitsubishi ASX shooting up to #30.

Audi TT

The Smart Fortwo/Forfour relaunch is met with success so far in Sweden, clocking up 90 sales in January alone vs. 118 over the entire year 2014. The BMW 2 Series continues to advance, now at #56, while the Lexus NX brilliantly stabilises just below the #50 mark at #57. Excellent month for the Porsche Cayenne stepping into the Top 100 with 45 sales and back above the Macan (#141), the Audi TT gets a boost thanks to the new model (#149) and the Mazda CX-9 sells 11 units vs. 3 in the whole of 2014.

Previous post: Sweden Full Year 2014: Volvo V70 celebrates 18 years on top

One year ago: Sweden January 2014: Volvo XC60 up to record 2nd place

Full January 2015 Top 221 All-models and Top 32 All-brands below.