In October, Sweden’s plugin electric vehicle market share increased to 59.4% from 50.1% in the same month last year. Battery-electric vehiclesalone dominated the market from 22.9% to 35.5% YoY. However, compared to seasonal averages before 2020, there is still a 25% decrease. Meanwhile, the Volvo XC40 was the fully electric vehicle that sold the most units, as per CleanTechnica.
The cumulative plugin result for October was 59.4%, of which 35.5% were full electric vehicles (BEVs) and 23.8% were plugin hybrids (PHEVs). Their corresponding shares were 22.9% and 28.0% a year ago.
It is also worth noting that the combined share for October was the second-highest on record after December 2021 (60.7%). On the other hand, BEV sales increased substantially (74% YoY) in volume, whereas PHEV sales dropped (4% YoY).
Furthermore, the volume of internal combustion engine vehicles decreased by over 21% YoY, reaching a new low of 6,455 combined units. Remarkably, their combined share fell to a historic low of 28.8%, lower than BEVs alone.
Best Selling BEVs
The Volvo XC40 advanced from second place in September to first place in October. It follows a short hiatus from the top 20 from June to August. Second place went to the Volkswagen ID.4, while third place went to the revamped Kia Niro.
Other than the one BYD Tang unit, there were no remarkable entrants in the October rankings. With 171 units, the Renault Megane recorded its highest monthly volume to date and moved up to 18th place.
Now let’s discuss the longer-term trends:
In the rankings for the previous three months, the Volkswagen ID.4 once more claimed the leading position, followed by the Volvo XC40 and the Skoda Enyaq
Here is a list of the top climbers from May through July, as per the report:
- Volvo XC40 advanced from 12th to 2nd
- Nissan Leaf advanced from 13th to 4th
- Volvo C40 advanced from 40th to 9th
- Tesla Model 3 advanced from the 29th to 11th
- VW ID.5 advanced from 25th to 12th
- VW ID.3 advanced from 21st to 16th
MG5 advanced from 20th to 17thOther models slipped:
- Tesla Model Y slipped from 1st to 10th
- MG ZS slipped from 5th to 8th
- Audi e-tron slipped from 7th to 35th
- MG Marvel R slipped from 9th to 14th
- Cupra Born slipped from 10th to 15th
- BMW i4 slipped from 11th to 21st
- Citroen C4 slipped from 14th to 23rd
Notably, most ranking changes result from short-term regional allocation decisions, which are based on limited production levels rather than significant shifts in demand.
Year-to-date auto volumes are still down
Mobility Sweden, a Swedish organization representing the auto sector, points out that YTD auto volumes are still down 10% from the low baseline of 2021. According to them, “concerns are growing in the industry over increased energy prices, shortages of key components and reduced demand among consumers.” (Mobility Sweden, machine translation)
The chief economist of Mobility Sweden says the short-term outlook is as follows:
“The political and economic instability in the world contributes to continued major disruptions in the global supply chains, which in turn creates a large gap between orders and production in the automotive industry. There is also a shortage of important key components. The combination of production disruptions, increased energy prices, increased costs for input goods and transport, a weak krona and the general unrest affects the Swedish vehicle market with both longer delivery times and higher costs.
“In recent weeks, in the customer dialogue, we have seen a significant slowdown in demand, which is due to the macro situation. This, together with households’ gloomy view of their own finances, is a cloud of worry for the vehicle market.” (Sofia Linder, Chief Economist at Mobility Sweden, machine translation)
Plugins continue to offer lower overall costs of ownership. That said, the market share of plugins should consequently keep increasing over time. However, volume growth is a different issue, reliant on the quality of supply chains and the prognosis for consumers’ economic stability.
Nonetheless, the supply situation will significantly affect whether December’s plugin share breaks a new record above 60%.
