Sweden Sales : 2021

Registrations for December were -20% but +3% YTD. A change in an incentive policy (downward) for hybrid cars from the 1st of April and an increase of incentive for full electric cars has created some volatility with brands affected by the change. 

The semiconductor shortage hasn't helped in almost eroding all the registration gains made earlier in the year. In the end sales did not get near pre-covid numbers, being about 50,000 units short once 2021 had bade farewell. 

The '+/-' column below is comparing market share variance for 2021 with 2020. Volvo is still the best-selling brand here, with VW losing more registrations than Volvo managed. VW had been closing in slowly year by year but for now at least, a reversal. 

There is a sizable drop back to Kia and Toyota at third and fourth respectively but they have closed the gap to some extent during 2021. MG is moving on up, not surprising considering the increased incentives on offer. Volvo's Polestar electric brand is still improving while the Geely owned Lynk & Co (Volvo's owner also) started quite strongly. The 01 model it's selling has much in common with the Volvo XC40. 

Point of interest: Volvo has been the top selling brand every year since 1958. How has Volvo managed to do that? It must be due in no small measure to local support for a company that adds much to the economy. Even though now it is foreign owned, it is still a valuable contributor. It makes sense to support local manufacturing regardless of who owns it and Swedes get that. I can think of only one exception to that (in another country). 

Data source: Bilsweden.

Netherlands Top 50 Sales By Model : 2021

Kia is charging along in the Netherlands

With total registrations down 9%, there were always going to be more downs than ups. Added to that the usual volatility of the market, government incentives and supply issues, it was always going to be an interesting list. 

I colour coded the list to show where brands historically originated. From that we see brands with European heritage the main ones represented in the top 50 list. Ford is still quite a popular brand so it created a smattering of purple. Kia took top place with the Niro for the second consecutive year, not a common occurrence here. 

Point of interest: Over recent years I have noticed a new electric model arrives in the Netherlands and it is extremely popular and in the next year or two not at all. The Tesla 3 went from 7th to 40th. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is a new model that is immediately selling well. What about 2022? The VW ID.3 was 2nd (10,900 customers) in 2020 but barely made this list in 2021. The ID.4 is the new kid on the block. It seems those that lease cars jump models and also brands whenever a new model arrives. 

 Data source: Bovag.

Netherlands Sales : 2021

Registrations for December were -16% and -9% YTD. 2020 was poor and 2021 was even worse. The data below compares market share variance, not sales increase or decrease. So a brand would have to better than a -9% reduction in sales to get into market share positive territory in the '+/- Diff' column. Green shading shows which brands achieved that.

VW has a late flurry of registrations to hold onto the top spot, Kia of all brands the pretenders. Who would have thought that even a few years ago. VW has been the best selling brand since 2005 so a change would have been something of note. With supply issues still continuing, it's hard to predict anything with much certainty for 2022. 

Point of note: Lynk & Co is a Chinese brand owned by Geely, the same company that controls Volvo. It benefits by using the same architecture as Volvo. It offers membership in addition to ownership, which has proven to be a popular option. Registrations in the Netherlands have gone well in its first year of operation but it will be interesting to see if that initial surge will be sustained. 

 Data source: Bovag.