Car Market Shrunk, But EVs Maintained Ultra-High Market Share In October

In October, the Norwegian car market once again noted a significant 29 percent year-over-year decrease, dropping new registrations down to 8,925. Because of that, the year-to-date result of 104,424 is now deeper into the red at -9.4 percent year-over-year.

Despite the fact that people are buying a lower number of new cars, the market is dominated by rechargeable ones, which maintain their ultra-high market share.

According to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), 8,151 new passenger plug-in cars were registered last month (down 25 percent year-over-year), which was 91.3 percent of the total volume (compared to 87.7 percent a year ago). In other words, electrification progresses further.

All-electric car registrations were down 23 percent year-over-year to 7,516, which represents 84.2 percent of the market (compared to 77.5 percent a year ago). Plug-in hybrids add an additional 7.1 percent share, with 635 new registrations, although the volume decreased by 44 percent year-over-year, indicating that PHEVs are not that attractive to customers.

A fun thing is that gasoline vehicles represent only 1.0 percent of the market, diesel vehicles just 2.2 percent, and non-rechargeable hybrids 5.5 percent for a total of 8.7 percent. That would explain why manufacturers are already selling (or soon will be) only plug-in cars (like Volkswagen, starting in 2024).

Plug-in passenger car registrations last month (YOY change):

• BEVs: 7,516 (down 23%) and 84.2% market share
• PHEVs: 635 (down 44%) and 7.1% market share
• Total: 8,151 (down 25%) and 91.3% market share

So far this year, more than 94,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars have been registered in Norway, which represents about 90 percent of the total car sales.

Plug-in car registrations year-to-date (YOY change):

• BEVs: 87,190 (down 3%) and 83.5% market share
• PHEVs: 7,278 (down 36%) and 7% market share
• Total: 94,468 (down 7%) and 90.5% market share

For reference, in 12 months of 2022, more than 153,000 new plug-in electric cars were registered in Norway (87.8 percent of the total volume).

In terms of the best-selling cars, in October the Tesla Model Y once again was number one overall with 648 new registrations and a massive 20,223 year-to-date result (19.4 percent of all car sales). Relatively close behind the Model Y were the Toyota bZ4X (553) and Skoda Enyaq iV (533).

On the list of best-selling cars, we can see almost entirely all-electric models and crossover/SUVs, which appears to be the ultimate combo.