Sweden’s 2016 Best-Seller Wasn’t A Volvo For The First Time In 50 Years

For the first time in over half a century, Sweden’s best-selling car

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by Brad Anderson

January 3, 2017 at 12:58

For the first time in over half a century, Sweden’s best-selling car wasn’t a Volvo. Instead, 2016’s most popular car in the country was the Volkswagen Golf.

As the BBC reports, the country’s carmakers association has confirmed that 5.9 per cent of all new cars sold in Sweden last year were VW Golfs. By comparison, the three highest selling Volvo models combined only accounted for a 5.7 per cent market share.

This is the first time that a Volvo hasn’t topped the list since 1962, when the Volkswagen Beetle proved the nation’s most popular car.

Do these figures suggest that the country’s love affair with its most famous home-grown automaker is over? Well, not exactly. There are still more Volvos on Swedish roads than any other vehicle. In fact, they account for 21.5 per cent of the country’s overall car market.

Towards the end of 2016, Volvo confirmed that China would become its global manufacturing and export hub. As part of this decision, production of the S90 will be moved from Sweden to China and that additional 60-series and 40-series small cars will be built in China.