Norway September 2019: Tesla Model 3 soars to 21% share, eyes VW Beetle’s 50 year-old annual volume record

The Tesla Model 3 is the most popular vehicle in Norway so far in 2019.

22/10 update: Now with Top 290 All-models and Top 50 All-brands.

Less impacted by WLTP disruptions last year as it is not part of the EU, the Norwegian new car market edges up 5.1% year-on-year in September to 11.157 registrations, leading to a year-to-date volume now down a tiny -0.8% at 110.617. EVs reach 54.5% market share thanks to 6.086 sales, its 2nd highest level below the 58.4% last March. The YTD EV share stands at 44.7%, reaching its highest level in Oslo (60%) and Hordaland (57.5) and its lowest in the two northernmost counties: 24.1% Tromsø and 10.9% in Finnmark. Hybrids represent 22.8% of sales of which 45% are PHEVs, and 53% of all registrations in Norway in September are 4WD.

Following a pattern we have observed for the past few years both in North America and Europe, Tesla (+37%) backloads its sales during end-of-quarter months when it releases financial results and as such reaches a mammoth 24.8% share in Norway in September, to be compared with 31.7% last March and 24.5% last June. The EV maker easily remains #1 YTD with 15.1% share vs. 13.4% for Volkswagen (+90.8%) down to #3 this month. Toyota (+7.2%) remains at #2, while only Audi (+320%) thanks to the e-Tron, Skoda (+27.1%) and Hyundai (+20.2%) outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 10 just as Nissan (-41.7%), Volvo (-30.7%) and Mercedes (-24.8%) crumble down.

The Tesla Model 3 reaches 21% share for the month and has now the three largest monthly volumes in Norwegian history: 5.315 last March, 3.012 last June and 2.342 this month, all beating the previous record held by the Nissan Leaf at 2.172 in March 2018. In fact, the Model 3 is headed towards an all-time annual volume record, currently held by the VW Beetle back in 1969 at 16.699 vs. 13.859 over 9 months for the Model 3. Below, the VW Golf (+136.9%) and Nissan Leaf (-45.5%) complete the podium above the Audi e-Tron back up one spot on last month to #4. The Volvo V60 (+122.6%), Hyundai Kona (+113.8%), Jaguar i-Pace (+57.9%), Toyota RAV4 (+49.3%) and Skoda Octavia (+36.7%) post the rare upticks further down while the Mercedes EQC lands with 47 sales, still far from the Top 20 for now.

Previous month: Norway August 2019: Market down -16.4% despite Tesla (+325.8%) and Jaguar (+371.7%)

One year ago: Norway September 2018: Tesla leads, breaks record share at 19%

Full September 2019 Top 50 All-brands and Top 290 All-models below.