Since 1962, Swedish car manufacturer, Volvo, has been topping the charts in car sales every year in Sweden. For the first time after more than a decade, they have lost the lead to a German car manufacturer. Volkswagen just outranked Volvo by a huge number gap in 2016.

The Last Time That Volvo Was Outranked Was Also By Volkswagen

Coincidentally, the last time that a foreign car company beat Volvo on their home ground was in 1962, and none other by Volkswagen. Volvo sold a combined 21, 321 for their V70, S90, V90 and XC70 models. Volkswagen beat Volvo with only its Golf model and accomplished a total of 22,084 new car registrations. Volkswagen had a 763 gap from Volvo.

The Volkswagen Golf Dominated All Volvo Models In Sweden

Even after being beaten by the Volkswagen Golf, Volvo vehicles still dominate the entirety of the Sweden automotive market. They still hold one-fifth of the total sales for the year 2016. They also stated that the decline in sales might have happened after they switched to the production of their 90 series sedans. The Swedish company is expecting to get the top rank this year and reclaim the title once they release the new 90 series sedans. Volvo is serious on taking back the top spot from its foreign rival.

Volvo Still Dominates The Swedish Car Market With Its New Marketing Campaign

Volvo, however, is still Sweden's largest car manufacturer. The company was previously owned by Ford Motors but was later on sold to a Chinese firm, Zhejiang Geely Group back in 2010. Volvo has also recently started a new marketing strategy in 2015. They have adopted the slogan "Made bySweden" and features the famous Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. BIL Sweden, the country's automaker association, said that sales for the automotive industry did well in 2016 and expected better results for 2017.