Police said there were four or five people in the car when it exploded this afternoon in the district of Torslanda. The local rescue service could only say there were multiple injuries and possible fatalities.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.
Rescue spokesman Bosse Andersson said the car exploded in a roundabout near a fire station. When rescuers from the fire station arrived at the scene they found the car "severely demolished," he said.
"And I saw how, I think it was the roof, flew up in the air," he said. "It was a very strong blast."
Police said they were questioning witnesses and cordoned off the area to allow experts to investigate the wreckage. Located on the country's southwestern coast, Goteborg is Sweden's second largest city. It's seen a surge in violent showdowns between rival criminal gangs, including a restaurant shooting in March that left two people dead and about a dozen injured.