The number of new registrations of passenger cars in 2024 ended at the lowest level in ten years, according to figures from the industry organization Mobility Sweden.
The decrease compared to the previous year landed at 7 percent, with a clear decline for electric cars. The number of electric cars fell by 16 percent, while there was a slight increase for plug-in hybrids, 3 percent. This also broke the trend of reduced carbon dioxide emissions from the vehicle fleet.
Setback for electric cars
For 2025, Mobility Sweden's prognosis is 275,000 new registered passenger cars, a small increase compared to the outcome for 2024 (269,498). The share of electric cars is expected to land at 40 percent, the same level as in 2023 and up from 35 percent in 2024.
Behind the expected increase in the share of pure electric cars is a strengthened private household economy and the fact that several new, cheaper electric car models are on their way to the market.
In our internal order book, we see that the electric share increases somewhat, says Sofia Linder, chief economist at Mobility Sweden.
From electric cars being mainly aimed at affluent villa owners with good private charging opportunities, the market is moving towards a slightly broader mass. In recent years, electric car manufacturers have targeted the mid-volume segment, with price classes around half a million.
New segment coming now
What's coming this year is a new budget or volume segment. They call them the 25,000 euro cars. There are quite a few models that will be rolled out during the year. On the Swedish market, they are around 300,000 kronor, says Mattias Bergman.
But for it to succeed, better charging opportunities are required for car owners living in apartment buildings, according to Bergman.
Another reason that may press prices somewhat on electric cars is the emission requirements on car manufacturers in the EU: The average emission per manufactured car must decrease, otherwise, fines are threatened. This forces car manufacturers to get better at selling electric cars.
We've already seen in 2024 that there have been many campaigns. And it's very possible that there will be many campaigns also during 2025. For 2025 is a crucial year to get the emissions down, says Mattias Bergman.
