Finland April 2020: BMW (+17.5%), Volvo XC40 (+3.8%), Skoda Kamiq (#12) headline market down “just” -39.1%

The Skoda Kamiq is up to a record #12 in Finland in April. Picture hs.fi

3/06 update: Now with Top 32 All-brands and Top 50 models.

The COVID-19 state of emergency in Finland was extended to May 13, but it only involves the closure of most schools and government-run public facilities as well as the country’s borders. Movement restrictions between Uusimaa and the rest of the country were removed on April 15 and the country has been functioning at a higher level than most in Europe, including car dealerships that have remained open. As a result, the Finnish new car market drops “only” -39.1% in April to 5.805 units, that’s more than in the UK, Italy or Spain and Finland is the only European country among those we have covered until now to lose less than 50% of its April 2019 volume. The year-to-date tally is now down a measured -12.1% to 33.626.

The Top 5 brands remain unchanged on March: Toyota (-31.6%) leads the way again above Skoda (-31.2%), Volkswagen (-38.8%), Volvo (-40.9%) and Mercedes (-20.4%) scoring the best hold in the Top 7. BMW (+17.5%) even manages a year-on-year gain: the only one among the Top 20 brands. It is joined further down by Porsche (+125%) and Mini (+5.6%) while Citroen (-16.4%) and Audi (-15.7%) also resist much better than the market. Model-wise, the Toyota Corolla (-7.2%) secures a 10th win in the past 12 months including all four months of 2020, distancing the Skoda Octavia (-46%) and Nissan Qashqai (-64.7%) like last month. The Volvo XC40 (+3.8%) is the only Top 15 model in positive at #7, with the Mercedes GLC (+196.7%), BMW 3 Series and VW Passat (+13.3%) also up in the remainder of the Top 30. The Skoda Kamiq (record #12) and Scala (#30) top recent launches.

Previous month: Finland March 2020: Tesla (#12) and Model 3 (#4) break records in market edging down -1.3%

One year ago: Finland April 2019: Peugeot (+21.3%), Kia (+19.9%) defy 7th double-digit market fall in past 8 months (-12.3%)

Full April 2020 Top 32 All-brands and Top 50 models below.