Norway May 2018: VW Golf back above Nissan Leaf in market down 8%

The VW Golf and Nissan Leaf add up to 14% of the Norwegian market so far in 2018. Picture motor.no

* See the Top 40 All-brands and Top 235 All-models by clicking on the title *

The Norwegian new car market drops a stiff 8% year-on-year in May to 13.046 registrations, sending the year-to-date volume down 4.5% to 60.900 units. Volkswagen (-13%), Toyota (-14%) and BMW (-13%) top the brands ranking this month but all drop even faster than the market. Volvo limits its fall to -4% but drops one spot to #4 while Nissan, also down one rank on April to #5, surges 43% to 6.3%, however well below its YTD level of 8.9% (+69%). Peugeot (+24%) also shines inside the Top 10 whereas Skoda (-38%), Mercedes (-26%) and Audi (-21%) are all hit full frontal. Further down, Jeep (+1200%), Dacia (+167%), Tesla (+130%), Alfa Romeo (+129%), DS (+100%), Kia (+40%), Renault (+34%) and Lexus (+25%) all go against the grain, posting spectacular gains.

Model-wise, the VW Golf (-19%) manages to end two months of spectacular domination by the Nissan Leaf (+137%) despite dropping painfully itself to 7% share, 68% of which is the e-Golf electric variant. The Leaf is related to #2 and 4.9% but remains in the YTD pole position at 7.6% (+155%) vs. 6.5% (-4%). The Toyota Yaris (+15%) is up four spots on April to #3 with 458 of its 459 May sales being hybrid, knocking the BMW i3 (-1%) down to #4. The Mercedes GLC soars 54% to brilliantly break into the Top 5 for the 2nd time after July 2017, this month 77% of sales are the PHEV variant. Notice also the Tesla Model X (+209%), BMW X5 (+85%), Tesla Model X (+79%), Renault Zoe (+55%) and Volvo XC60 (+51%) posting large gains.

Previous month: Norway April 2018: Nissan Leaf triumphs once again

One year ago: Norway May 2017: Opel Ampera-e up to #15

Full May 2018 Top 40 All-brands and Top 235 All-models below.