Ranked 1st in the Netherlands and 2nd in Sweden
Kia Corp. has outsold Tesla in Sweden to take second place in the electric vehicle sales standings.
Kia sold 6,018 units in Sweden between January and November 2021, beating Tesla (5,666 units) and placing second in sales performance, said EU-EVs, a European electric vehicle sales data aggregator, on Dec. 12. Kia accounted for 12.7 percent and Tesla 11.9 percent. First place was taken by Volkswagen, which sold 9,296 units (a 19.6 percent share).
Kia had placed third, 120 units behind Tesla, until October. However, it sold 776 units in November, surpassing Tesla, which sold only 299 units in the same month. Kia’s first pure electric vehicle, the EV6, became a smash hit. Only 11 units of the Kia EV6 were sold in October, the first month of the model’s entry into the Swedish market. However, it recorded a surprising performance of selling 355 units in November.
Sweden has the third-highest proportion of electric vehicles among European countries. According to the European Commission, Norway had the highest proportion of 59.7 percent in the January-September period of 2021, followed by Iceland (27.9 percent) and Sweden (15.9 percent).
Electric vehicle sales in Sweden in the first three quarters of 2021 were 36,000 units. The figure is expected to reach 50,000 units for the whole of the year. In Europe, Germany (229,000 units), the U.K. (121,000 units), and France (107,000 units) were the top three markets during the period. However, the three countries show high preferences for their own auto brands and electric vehicles take up about 10 percent of their automobile markets. This leads Korean carmakers to turn their eyes to Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, where electric vehicles are spreading fast.
Electric vehicle sales in the Netherlands were close to 30,000 units in the first three quarters of 2021. Kia Corp. has been the No. 1 player in the country’s electric vehicle market since July. Until November 2021, its cumulative sales amounted to 6,046 units (a 12.7 percent share), followed by Skoda (5,080 units and 10.7 percent) and Volkswagen (4,029 units and 8.5 percent). Tesla accounted for only 4.8 percent with 2,277 units. Kia Corp. expects not only the EV6 but also the new Niro EV, which is to hit Europe in the third quarter of 2022, to continue to fare well in the European electric vehicle market. The new Niro EV was unveiled for the first time in the world at the Seoul Mobility Show in early December.