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Swedes snapping up more new cars: report

New car sales in Sweden took an unexpected jump in November, signaling a clear upward trend in the market, according to an industry group.

In November, Sweden recorded 20,126 new car registrations, corresponding to a 14.3 percent increase from the same month last year, according to automotive industry association BIL Sweden.

“The new car market has definitely turned upward,” BIL Sweden head Bertil Moldén said in a statement.

However, new car sales for the year through November have slumped by 18.1 percent compared to last year, to 190,040 newly registered vehicles.

Meanwhile sales of Saab cars continue to plummet, although at a somewhat slower pace than previously.

Only 601 new Saabs were sold in November, a drop of 55 percent from the previous year.

The number of new Volvos sold, however, increased by 10.9 percent to 3,935.

So far this year, the Volvo V70 II has been the most popular new car in Sweden, with 18,650 new registrations in 2009, down somewhat from the 20,364 units sold during the corresponding period last year.

Another Volvo model, the V50, is the second most-sold car so far this year, with 10,107 vehicles sold, just shy of the 10,709 sold through November last year.

Meanwhile, truck sales continued to slump in November, with 3,080 new vehicles registered for the month, a 9.6 drop from the year before. In addition, sales of heavy trucks – vehicles weighing more than 16 tonnes – dropped by 38.5 percent.

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VOLVO

Sweden’s Volvo regains strength after pandemic puts brakes on earnings

Swedish truck maker Volvo Group was hit by a sharp drop in earnings due to the coronavirus pandemic, but business rebounded at the end of the year.

Sweden's Volvo regains strength after pandemic puts brakes on earnings
Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt. Photo: Adam Ihse/TT

In 2020, the group saw “dramatic fluctuations in demand” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, chief executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement.

For 2021, Volvo raised its sales forecasts in its trucks division – its core business – in Europe, North America and Brazil.

However, it said it also expected “production disturbances and increased costs” due to a “strained” supply chain, noting a global shortage of semiconductors across industries.

The truck making sector is particularly sensitive to the global economic situation and is usually hard hit during crises.

In March, as the pandemic took hold around the world, Volvo suspended operations at most of its sites in 18 countries and halted production at Renault Trucks, which it owns, in Belgium and France.

Operations gradually resumed mid-year, but not enough to compensate for the drop in earnings.

With annual sales down 22 percent to 338 billion kronor (33.4 billion euros, $40 billion), the group posted a 46 percent plunge in net profit to 19.3 billion kronor (1.9 billion euros).

Operating margin fell from 11.5 to 8.1 percent.

However, the group did manage to cut costs by 20 percent.

“We have significantly improved our volume and cost flexibility, which were crucial factors behind our earnings resilience in 2020,” the group said.

Volvo's business regained strength in the second half of the year.

“Customer usage of trucks and machines increased when the Covid-19 restrictions were eased during the summer and this development continued during both the third and fourth quarters,” it said.

“Both the transport activity and the construction business are back at levels on par with the prior year in most markets.”

For the fourth quarter alone, the company reported a 38-percent rise in net profit from a year earlier.

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