Plug-In Vehicles = 11% of Swedish Auto Market

January 4, 20204 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

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Sweden probably isn’t one of the first countries that come to mind when talking about electric vehicle leaders, but plug-in vehicles have a higher market share there than in almost any other country in the world. In 2019, 11% of auto sales were sales of plug-in vehicles.

One odd thing about this market is that it’s one of the only markets I know of in which the Tesla Model 3 wasn’t the best selling plug-in vehicle in 2019. The Model 3 came in second behind the consistently popular Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

Naturally, part of the Outlander PHEV’s popularity in Sweden is its vehicle class — it’s an affordable SUV, still a unique position in the market. Incidentally, though, neither the Outlander PHEV nor the Model 3 won the December sales race. Instead, it was the Volkswagen Passat GTE, which was 6th in the full year ranking.

In general, plug-in hybrids do very well in Sweden. They accounted for 7% of the auto market, while fully electric vehicles accounted for 4%, according to EV Volumes. Aside from the Model 3, plug-in hybrids took the top spots in terms of 2019 plug-in sales until you get to the #7 Renault Zoe. The Kia Niro PHEV was #3, the Kia Optima PHEV #4, and the Volvo S/V60 T8 #5. Here’s a full breakdown of the

Of the plug-in vehicle market, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV had 12% of sales, the Tesla Model 3 10%, and the Kia Niro PHEV and Kia Optima PHEV 8% each.

Plug-in vehicles are supported by decent governmental incentives in Sweden, as the chart below from Volkswagen shows. Though, what’s key in my mind is that when you have 10% of buyers choosing electric, that spreads via word of mouth the many benefits of electric vehicles and another wave of buyers get comfortable going electric.