New registered passenger cars increased by 1.2% from 2016 to 2017 and reached an all-time high amount of 392,728 in total. Also, the amount of newly registered both light and heavy trucks increased to record high numbers in 2017. The strong automotive market in Sweden is partly due to low interest rates and stable labor market as well as growing population.
Current market trends are towards environmentally friendly and towards electric vehicles in particular. Over 67,850 new environmentally friendly classified cars were sold in 2017, which is an increase by 6.4% from 2016. Overall, the number of new cars sold increased from roughly 388,000 in 2016 to almost 393 000 in 2017. US brands are generally small on the Swedish market, with Ford on place 12 as the only manufacturer among the top 25 in terms of market shares of newly registered passenger cars, with a market share of 2.64% in 2017 . However, Ford has been varying between the 4th and 5th place in the “top 10 most common makes for passenger cars” in Sweden during 2008-2017 . Throughout the years Volvo has been topping the list, with Volkswagen at the second place and together they had a market share of roughly 35% in 2017.
Summary
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Market Entry & Demand
As a rule, the Swedish vehicle manufacturers prefer to deal directly with foreign suppliers rather than going through agents. In regard to the aftermarket, it is more common to work through importers/agents or wholesalers. The products are thereafter sold through dealers, car part stores, garages, and gas stations. Mail order firms also play an important part in the distribution system. About 60-70 percent of the sales got through authorized car dealers and garages.
Forecasts for 2018-2021 show continued increase in new registrations of passenger cars, as well as light and heavy trucks. On new registrations of passenger cars diesel cars continues to decrease as a result of poorer availability of models and because the fuel recently has been questioned by its emissions and environmental politics. Rechargeable vehicles are expected to continue increasing until 2021, both in absolute number as in new registrations. However, majority of these cars are considered to be plug-in hybrids. Another significant prediction is that there after 2018 would not be ethanol cars on the Swedish market due to low demand.
Exporters must meet national and EU wide rules and regulations. In particular, US exporters must meet the CE mark requirements whenever applicable. The CE mark certifies that the products have met the health, safety and environmental requirements of the EU. Import duties are the same as for the rest of the EU, and VAT of 25 percent must be paid on any exported good at the port of entry. Sweden also uses the metric system and product information and literature should therefore be expressed in metric terms.
Sweden