Sweden January 2019: Volvo S/V60 leads, hurts S/V90, BMW, Kia, Ford strong in market down 10.9%

The Volvo S/V60 is the best-selling vehicle in Sweden in January.

Swedish new car sales skid down 10.9% year-on-year in January to 20.478 units. Atop the brands charts, both Volvo (-14.1%) and Volkswagen (-21.7%) lose share year-on-year but Kia (+9.2%) and BMW (+12.6%) show impressive results. Only Ford (+4.9%) also manages a year-on-year uptick in the Top 10, with Audi (-27.1%), Skoda (-22.1%) and Toyota (-21.4%) all falling into oblivion. Below, some carmakers still manage some spectacular results, such as Jaguar (+263.3%), Jeep (+144%), Mitsubishi (+144%), Land Rover (+125.8%), Alfa Romeo (+103.3%), Lamborghini (+100%), Tesla (+94.7%), Hyundai (+54.5%), Citroen (+48.9%), Renault (+48.4%) and Seat (+21.8%).

Model-wise, the Volvo S/V60 (+11.7%) is boosted up by the new generation and snaps the overall lead off the S/V90 (-39.4%) in what looks like a pretty standard case of cannibalisation. By replacing the best-selling V70 by the S/V90, Volvo had a blanket upgrade in mind with its current owners, but now that the cheaper, sophisticated and similarly-looking S/V60 is widely available, that equation isn’t all that obvious anymore. Expect a fierce battle between Volvo’s two star station wagons in 2019, as the overwhelming majority of sales are traditionally generated by the V60 and V90 models.

The VW Tiguan (+45.4%) shows outstanding health at #3 overall, overtaking the Volvo XC60 (+14.2%) and VW Golf (-23.3%). The Kia Niro (+86.1%) is at its best since last September at #6, while the Mitsubishi Outlander (+184.8%) breaks into the Swedish Top 10 for the first time in history, helped by a new bonus-malus system that advantages EVs and PHEVs. The Volvo XC40 (+227.4%) celebrates one year in market with an ok 8th place overall, while the Ford Focus (+148.8%) climbs onto the Top 10 thanks to the new generation. The Audi Q8 (#105) is the best-selling recent launch (<12 months) above the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (#108) and Jaguar i-Pace (#166).

Previous post: Sweden Full Year 2018: First annual win for the Volvo S/V90, H2 freefall pulls market down 6.8%

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

Full January 2019 Top 40 All-brands and Top 233 All-models below.