Sweden Top 4 Brands : 1950-59

1959 Volvo Amazon. A nice looking car for its day

Thanks to the good folk of BilSweden, we can have an insight into the Swedish car market back in the 1950s. Sweden didn't have a dominant local brand such as VW in Germany and Fiat in Italy. Therefore, the changes in positions in the top 4 are greater, especially that coveted top spot.

Ford (Germany and UK combined) started out top but fell away slightly as the decade proceded. Ford at the beginning of the 50's were mainly from England, with Germany, France and the USA following. By 1959, Germany had just passed England as the largest source of cars, with the US adding some units.

Opel/Vauxhall combined (GM Europe) did well although both brands were selling separately there during those years. That was not uncommon back then, as the cars were different. Vauxhall sales were consistently about a tenth of Opel sales through the 60s. I haven't included GM US sales in the OpV figure, and GM cars from across the Atlantic were very popular in Sweden as well.

VW was up and down, even missing out for two years. Local marque Volvo strengthened as time passed and was well ensconced at the top by 1959. The only other make to get into the top 4 was BMC (Austin 2/1 in sales over Morris).

Year	1st		2nd		3rd		4th
1950	Ford	10,101	VW	8,252	Volvo	7,419	Opel-V	5,128
1951	Volvo	9,288	VW	7,333	Ford	7,021	Opel-V	5,358
1952	Ford	7,169	Volvo	7,132	VW	5,964	Opel-V	5,020
1953	Volvo	14,741	Ford	9,059	Opel-V	8,235	BMC	7,889
1954	Volvo	21,186	Ford	19,088	Opel-V	13,748	BMC	13,048
1955	VW	25,876	Volvo	25,017	Opel-V	17,198	Ford	16,341
1956	Volvo	26,268	VW	23,406	Opel-V	21,691	Ford	15,667
1957	Opel-V	30,915	Volvo	27,911	VW	27,257	Ford	16,767
1958	Volvo	31,151	Opel-V	27,856	VW	24,827	Ford	16,879
1959	Volvo	39,029	VW	31,147	Opel-V	29,426	Ford	18,100

For others in the series, please click on the years: 2010-19. 2000-09, 1990-99,
1980-89, 1970-79, and 1960-69.