EVs At 62.3% Share In Sweden — Renault 4 Arrives

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July’s auto sales saw plugin EVs at 62.3% share in Sweden, a slight improvement over the same month in 2024 (59.6%), but with BEVs still below their 2023 levels. PHEVs have grown instead. Overall auto volume was 17,684 units, up some 8% year-on-year. The Volvo EX40 was the best-selling BEV.

July’s auto sales showed combined plugin EVs at 62.3% share in Sweden, with full electrics (BEVs) at 34.9% and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) at 27.4%. These figures compare YoY against 59.6% combined, 33.8% BEVs and 25.8% PHEVs.

Year to date, BEVs have accrued 17.5% more sales volume than over the same period in 2024, but are still 6% down on the same period in 2023. Put differently, 2024 was a weak year for BEVs, and although 2025 is showing a slight improvement, BEVs are still in a net-negative position compared to this point in 2023.

The only “consolation prize” at this point is that PHEVs have picked up much of the slack, meaning that the headline YTD combined plugin share is still slightly ahead of 2023 (61.4% vs. 58.2%), but relying this heavily on PHEVs to show any upside is a significant crutch. While it’s true that the latest generation of PHEVs do typically have 80+ km of WLTP electric range, and can do most of their annual driving on electricity, at this stage of Sweden’s transition, we should be seeing BEVs relentlessly growing in volume, and share, in their own right.

Instead, as can be clearly seen in the graph below, BEV share (in deeper green) has diminished since 2023, and only PHEVs (lighter green) are keeping the combined plugin market share from experiencing absolute decline. Even with PHEVs, the graph illustrates that plugins are “only barely” moving in a positive direction compared to two years ago.

Meanwhile, petrol-only share (in yellow) has remained stubbornly fixed over the past two years, even while BEVs have lost share.

Which manufacturing groups are still over-weighting their petrol car sales in Sweden, relative to their BEV sales, and thus effectively holding back the transition?

Going off the July figures, the biggest laggard was Stellantis, selling 786 petrol cars in Sweden last month, but only 33 BEVs! Second worst was Renault–Nissan (including Dacia), selling 394 petrol cars and 297 BEVs. Bear in mind that the overall market weighted petrol relative to BEV at 38.7% to 61.3% (setting aside all other powertrains for simplicity). Obviously, neither Stellantis nor Renault–Nissan are pulling their fair share of the weight in the transition.

Volkswagen Group, whilst selling slightly more BEVs (2,136) than petrol (1794) — effectively 54.4% BEV, 45.6% petrol (again, setting aside others) — still has a worse weighting than the overall average ratio given above. It is thus holding back BEV progress.

Hyundai Motor Group, on the other hand, sold many more BEVs (708) than petrol cars (467) in July, decently above the market average weighting, so is a net positive contributor to Sweden’s transition. Other substantial legacy players, like BMW, Mercedes, Geely, and even Ford, are now selling many times more BEVs than petrol cars in Sweden, so are also pulling the transition in the right direction.

If only Sweden implemented some kind of ZEV mandate scheme (with sticks and carrots) for manufacturing groups, like the UK does….

Best-Selling BEV Models

The Volvo EX40 was once again the best selling BEV model in July, with 614 units registered. This was the EX40’s fourth pole position in the past six months, a great result.

In second place was its younger sibling, the Volvo EX30, with 470 units, its best rank this year. Close behind, in third, was the Volkswagen ID.7, with 468 units.

The overall auto market, including BEVs, being seasonally slower in July compared to June, meant that most models saw their volume falling month-on-month. The only exceptions in the top 20 were the Renault 5 and the Cupra Tavascan, whose volumes increased. As a result, the Renault climbed from 28th to 10th, and the Cupra from 30th to 13th.

This was the Renault 5’s highest volume so far in Sweden, with a decent 173 units. The Renault 5 was also joined for the first time by its new sibling, the slightly larger Renault 4 (4,144 mm in length), which debuted in Sweden with a modest 4 initial units. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the still-small but higher-riding Renault 4 “SUV” might be favoured by Swedish consumers, with their penchant for SUV form factors. It’s early days, let’s see how the new Renault gets on.

The other notable debutant was the Ford Puma, which saw its first 11 units in July. As mentioned above, Ford’s BEV weighting in Sweden is better than average for legacy brands, although Ford is not a big player overall in the Swedish auto market. Its highest selling BEV, the Ford Explorer, has only accumulated 576 sales since launching a year ago, and we might expect the Puma to achieve better volumes, once it gets established.

At 4,214 mm in length, the Ford Puma is at the upper end of the B segment. It is a bit smaller than the popular Kia EV3 (4,310 mm), though very close to the even more popular Volvo EX30 (4,233 mm), which has ranked 4th in summed volume over the trailing 12 months. This size and format, at a competitive price, therefore gives the Puma a decent chance at being well suited to the Swedish market. Let’s see how it gets on.

Seres, the Chinese brand, launched both their Seres 3 and Seres 5 models in July, but at just 2 units and 1 unit, respectively. This is likely a toe-dipping exercise for the moment. We will come back to these models if they start to gain momentum in the Swedish market.

Let’s check the trailing 3-month rankings:

In the ongoing volume competition between the Volvo EX40 and the Volkswagen ID.7, the Volvo came out on top in July, though only some 2% ahead of the Volkswagen. The Volvo EX30 took third spot, some way behind the leaders.

The Tesla Model Y has now slipped to 4th, although it still retains the lead in the trailing 12 months ranking, with more than 50% greater volume than the ID.7, in second.

Further back in 19th, the Renault 5 has now entered the chart for the first time, and on its recent trajectory could climb to around 15th place in the coming months, which will be a decent result. Will, however, the new choice of the Renault 4 cause consumers to now cross-shop between the two, and potentially slow the Renault 5’s ascent? Let’s keep an eye on it.

Outlook

Swedish auto volume has grown YTD over 2024, though is still below the level of 2023, which was down on 2022, itself down on 2021. So while the auto market is healthier than last year, it is still in long-term decline.

The broader Swedish economy remains weak, with the latest 2025 Q2 GDP data again showing a YoY growth of 0.9%, a repeat of the growth from Q1. Headline inflation increased from 0.2% in May, to 0.7% in June (latest revision), and interest rates remained at their recently trimmed position of 2.0% from June into July. Manufacturing PMI increased to 54.2 points in July, from 51.8 points (revised) in June.

Should Sweden now consider implementing a stricter stick-and-carrot scheme, along the lines of the UK’s ZEV mandate, to get the BEV transition moving forwards again? What other things might be done to get things back on track? Please share your thoughts and comments in the discussion below.