Iceland Car Sales By Brand : 2015

Some vehicles lend themselves to the Icelandic climate

Icelandic car sales were as high as 18,000 in 2005. Things dropped a little for a couple of years before an economic crash that had sales down to a paltry 2,200 in 2009. Things were grim! Then sales started to pick up and a few years later, a 48% increase in 2015 and sales have passed 14,000.

Toyota lost much market share since the collapse in sales but in 2015, made a slight comeback. Chevrolet tumbled from 5th to 12th but Opel did the reverse, leaping from 26th to 11th. This cannot be a coincidence and I wonder if the dealers are switching brands, one GM for another.

The strength of the 4WD market is big in a cold climate. Brands with a good range of such vehicles will do well.

11	12	13	14	15	Brand	2015	%	+/-
1	1	1	1	1	Toyota	2,368	16.9%	55%
2	2	2	2	2	VW	1,363	9.7%	46%
7	3	4	3	3	Kia	1,348	9.6%	63%
4	4	3	4	4	Škoda	996	7.1%	26%
3	5	6	6	5	Suzuki	826	5.9%	37%
6	9	7	7	6	Hyundai	817	5.8%	38%
9	7	9	8	7	Nissan	721	5.1%	46%
8	6	10	9	8	Ford	652	4.6%	53%
15	12	12	10	9	Renault	587	4.2%	48%
23	11	11	11	10	Mazda	547	3.9%	59%
-	26	23	26	11	Opel	436	3.1%	n/a
5	7	5	5	12	Chevrolet	419	3.0%	-38%
10	10	8	12	13	Honda	345	2.5%	41%
11	15	13	13	14	Mercedes	328	2.3%	37%
13	19	16	16	15	Subaru	303	2.2%	110%
-	24	15	15	16	Dacia	298	2.1%	103%
19	20	22	22	17	Mitsubishi	292	2.1%	311%
14	16	17	17	18	Volvo	229	1.6%	75%
18	17	19	21	19	Citroën	216	1.5%	163%
16	14	21	14	20	Peugeot	210	1.5%	15%
12	13	14	20	21	Audi	177	1.3%	108%
17	18	18	18	22	Land Rover	171	1.2%	36%
21	21	20	19	23	BMW	115	0.8%	8%
20	24	27	25	24	Porsche	75	0.5%	108%
22	23	26	27	25	Lexus	48	0.3%	85%
24	22	24	23	26	Chrysler	36	0.3%	-49%
25	29	25	29	27	Fiat	31	0.2%	138%
26	-	30	31	28	Capron	23	0.2%	92%
-	-	-	24	29	Ssangyong	22	0.2%	-57%
-	-	28	30	30	Tesla	19	0.1%	46%
					Other	16
					Total	14,034		48.8%

Data source: Samgongustofa.

Slippery conditions and a 4WD comes into its own