Sweden October 2020: Rechargeable car sales hit record 36.1% in market back down (-5%)

The Toyota RAV4 scores the biggest gain in the Top 15 at +92%.

New car sales in Sweden flip back into negative territory in October at -5% year-on-year to 28.147 registrations, leading to a year-to-date tally down -16.8% to 230.791. Thanks to 10.171 sales (+187.7%), once again rechargeable cars hit another all-time record share in October at 36.1% vs. 34.4% last month and 11.9% a year ago in October 2020. Year-to-date rechargeable car sales are up 111.2% to 66.725 and 28.9% share vs. 11.4% over the same period in 2019. BIL Sweden still anticipates the share of rechargeable cars in the Swedish market will hit 30% over the Full Year 2020.

In the brands ranking, local behemoth Volvo (-1.5%) resists better than its home market, resulting into a slightly improved share at 18.3% vs. 18.1% year-to-date. Volkswagen (-8.6%) is in a bit of a more delicate place but remains #2 above Toyota (+14.6%) once again the largest gainer near the top, keeping Kia (-6.5%) at an unusual #4 spot. Peugeot (+43.7%), Mercedes (+12.2%) and Audi (+6.8%) also swim upstream in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, Dacia (+106.3%), DS (+62.5%), Suzuki (+54.7%), Citroen (+49.3%) and Renault (+23.2%) all shine brightly.

The Volvo S/V60 (+0.1%) edges up year-on-year to remain the uncontested leader of the Swedish sales charts with 6.7% share, identical to its YTD level. The VW Golf (-0.8%) rallies back up 6 spots to #2 while the Volvo XC60 (+19.3%) remains in third place. Below a VW Passat (-5.1%) matching the market, the Volvo XC40 (+21.7%) and Toyota RAV4 (+92%) both benefit fully from their green variants, posting the two largest gains in the Top 10. Below, the Seat Leon (+226.1%), Audi A5 (+117.8%), VW T-Roc (+93%), Audi A3 (+59.8%), Mercedes A-Class (+52%), Peugeot 3008 (+42.6%), Hyundai Koa (+37.7%) and Toyota C-HR (+35.5%) all impress. The two new models that ignited the market last month are a lot more tame in October: the Polestar 2 is down 15 spots and -53% to #27 and 274 sales while the VW ID.3 is down 17 ranks and -54% to #33 and 212 units.

Previous month: Sweden September 2020: First market uptick of the year (+7.3%), RAV4 up to #2, VW ID.3 #15

One year ago: Sweden October 2019: Volvo S/V60 cements lead in market up 28.4%

Full October 2020 Top 50 All-brands and Top 240 All-models below.