The Volvo has been Sweden’s top seller for the past 50 years
Sweden’s top selling car for the past 50 years has been the beloved Volvo but that’s all changed thanks to the Volkswagen Golf knocking it from its top spot.
The Volvo Group was founded in 1927, with the first Volvo car rolling off the production line from their factory in Gothenburg that year. The company built 280 cars in its first year but three years on (1930), Volvo sold 639 cars.
It was only after World War II that the Volvo became more well-known in other countries.
Sweden’s top selling car for 2016 is not the beloved Volvo Ā© Copyright N Chadwick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The Volvo Car Corporation was sold in 2010 to Chinese company Geely Automobile for $1.8 billion. However, the Volvo is still regarded as an icon of Sweden, much like the pop group Abba.
According to the UK’s carmakers’ association, the Volkswagen Golf has taken the number one spot this year as the top selling car in Sweden.
5.9% of new cars bought in Sweden in 2016 was from the sale of the Volkswagen Golf, with the Volvo V70, V90 and S90 combined taking 5.7% of new sales.
The Volvo has been the top selling car in Sweden for the past 54 years. The last time it was knocked off the top spot was back in 1962 and once again it was a Volkswagen that claimed the most sales with its well-loved, bubble shaped Beetle.
The Volvo might not be the top selling car in Sweden this year but over 71,000 new cars were registered last year compared to 58,000 VW’s and three out of the top five cars on the sales ranking list came from Volvo.
For decades, the Volvo V70 had been Sweden’s favourite but the model was dropped last year and replaced with the V90. The switch to the new V90 model could be the reason why Volvo was beaten by the VW Golf this year but the title could be reclaimed by Volvo in 2017.
It’s not all doom and gloom for Sweden’s most recognisable brand however, as the Swedish Carmakers Association confirmed that 2016 produced record car sales, with 372,000 new registrations, a rise of 8 per cent.
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