Sweden June 2018: Upcoming tax hike spurs biggest month in history

The Volvo S/V60 is #1 in Sweden for the second time ever.

* See the Top 50 All-brands and Top 275 All-models by clicking on the title *

In effect July 1, car prices in Sweden are now regulated by a bonus and malus system inspired from France, applying steep taxes to polluting vehicles and rebates to green ones. The price of most cars in the country is expected to rise sharply as a result of this system being put in place, and accordingly car buyers have pulled their purchase forward to June in order to avoid it. So much so that June 2018 figures up a whopping 72.9% year-on-year to 66.244, not only smash the June record of 38.324 established last year but also represent the biggest monthly car sales volume in Swedish history. Year-to-date sales are now up 16.5% to 225.543 units. 5 of the 7 best-selling carmakers in the country manage to outpace the galloping market in June: home-grown leader Volvo (+95%), Volkswagen (+86%), BMW (+83%), Fiat (+186%) leaping up to 5th place vs. #12 YTD and Nissan (+254%) up to #7 vs. #10 so far in 2018. Audi (+63%), Renault (+58%) and Toyota (+44%) trail the market.Further down, Alfa Romeo (+258%), Mitsubishi (+130%), Subaru (+125%), Mazda (+124%), Jeep (+121%), Opel (+89%), Dacia (+88%) and Peugeot (+88%) are among the best performers.

Bought in bulk to avoid the tax hike then transformed into campervans for summer: the Fiat Ducato.

In the models aisle, the combination of the impending tax rise, generous discounts on the outgoing generation and demo sales of the new model propel Volvo S/V60 sales up 6-fold (+490%) on June 2017 to 4.545 units and 6.9% share, snapping the monthly pole position for only the second time ever after November 2016 and overtaking the Volvo XC60 (+19% this month) to earn the #2 spot YTD. Still the uncontested leader YTD with a 6.800 sales advantage, the Volvo S/V90 is up “just” 52% in June to 6.4% share vs. 7.9% so far in 2018. The Fiat Ducato (+249%) has gone all guns blazing in avoiding the tax hike, reaching new volume (2.862), share (4.3%) and ranking (#4) records, meaning the #1 foreigner isn’t a Volkswagen for the first time since BSCB started following Sweden monthly here in 2010. The Nissan Qashqai (+399%), VW Passat (+133%) and VW Tiguan (+107%) also shine in the Top 10 while the VW T-Roc is up 20 spots to a record #16, overtaking the Volvo XC40 (#18) to become the best-selling recent launch in Sweden (<12 months).

Previous month: Sweden May 2018: Volvo V90 unbeatable in record market

One year ago: Sweden June 2017: Volvo S/V90 #1, Hyundai up 94, places i20 in Top 10

Full June 2018 Top 50 All-brands and Top 275 All-models below.