Registrations of new cars fell by 9 percent in September compared to the same period last year. It is the fifth consecutive month with falling new car registrations.
However, despite this, the industry organization Mobility Sweden is raising its full-year forecast by 15,000 cars, to 255,000 new registrations. Improved delivery capacity and a market that has developed better than expected are behind the revision.
But it's quite clear that it's still tough for the industry. Looking back at previous years, we've been well over 300,000 cars in sales per year, says Emmi Antonsson.
Relief for electric cars
For electric cars, whose sales figures have been a concern, September brought some relief. Two out of three new registrations were chargeable and the share of electric cars amounted to 45 percent, which is the highest figure so far this year.
This is partly due to several brands having campaigns with low interest rates for electric cars.
On the other hand, the number of electric cars decreased by around 8 percent in September.
"Completely decisive"
In September, 2,625 new light trucks were registered. This is a decrease of over 41 percent – and electric light trucks are having a particularly tough time. There, the number of new registrations decreased by 53 percent.
Demand has decreased for heavy electric trucks and fuel costs are a major part. The government has announced a tax reduction on diesel, which will lead to one of the lowest taxes in the EU, says Emmi Antonsson.
If you have the lowest tax, it usually correlates with the lowest price at the pump for diesel. Then it's hard for electric trucks to compete. They haven't even removed the tax on electricity charged via charging box, she continues.
Emmi Antonsson is also calling for shorter lead times for building charging infrastructure.
In Finland, it takes four months, in Sweden it can take up to two years. It's very difficult to find charging stations with sufficient power. It's completely decisive, she says.
Correction: An earlier version contained an error regarding the registration forecast.
