Norway October 2016: BMW i3 surges to world-best 2nd place

Only the VW Golf manages to outsell the BMW i3 in Norway this month.

* See the Top 35 All-brands and Top 202 All-models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Norway uncharacteristically drop 10% year-on-year in October to 11.932 registrations, yet the year-to-date tally remains in positive territory at +2% to 127.807 units. Volkswagen remains at a very strong level with 18.1% share, decelerating slower than the market at -2% and distancing Toyota down 8% to 11.1% and BMW up a cool 9% to an outstanding 9.2% market share. Mercedes surges 29% to equal 4th place with Volvo (-23%), Audi is up 10% to #8 but Nissan (-15%), Skoda (-12%), Ford (-24%) and Mazda (-17%) all underperform in the Top 10. Beyond, notice Lexus (+23%), Hyundai (+25%), Dacia (+75%) and Jaguar (+113%) going against the grain and posting spectacular year-on-year gains.

The Volvo V90 lands inside the Norwegian Top 20. 

In the models ranking, the VW Golf retains the top spot despite sales freefalling 37% to 858, with 68% of sales going to either the hybrid or PHEV variants. Each of the four following nameplates sign incredible scores: the BMW i3 is up 54% to hit a world-best 2nd place with 503 sales and 4.2% share, the VW Passat is up 70% to #3 (69% sales for the PHEV), the VW Tiguan up exactly 6-fold on October 2015 and the Toyota RAV4 is up 66% to #5  with 383 PHEV and only 2 “traditional” propulsions sold. Other great performers near the top of the ranking include the Volvo V40 (+48%), Mercedes B-Class (+73%), the Volvo V90 landing directly at #17 for its first full month of sales in the country, the Toyota Prius up 84%, Renault Zoe up 109%, Suzuki S-Cross up 162%, Opel Astra up 556% and the Hyundai Ioniq up 16 spots on September to #29. Among recent launches (<12 months), the Kia Niro ranks #37 (-10 on last month), the Tesla Model X at #41 (-39), the Ford Edge at #71 (+24), the Volvo S90 at #86 (+91) and the Audi Q2 at #87 (+113).

Previous month: Norway September 2016: Tesla Model X soars to 2nd place

One year ago: Norway October 2015: Mitsubishi Outlander on podium

Full October 2016 Top 35 All-brands and Top 202 All-models below.