Norway July 2020: Volumes up 6.5%, Mercedes signs first ever win, lifted by EQC (#2), MG ZS #5, Tesla crashes (-93.3%)

The EQC is up to a record 2nd place and allows Mercedes its first ever win in Norway.

New car sales in Norway leap back into positive in July at +6.5% year-on-year to 9.772 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -21% to 68.996. Electrified vehicles continue to extend their footprint, up 29.9% year-on-year to 7.497 and 76.7% share vs. 62.8% a year ago and down just -8.7% year-to-date to 53.859 and 78.1% share vs. 67.5% over the same period in 2019. In the detail, BEV is up 26.5% to 4.408 and 45.1% share vs. 37.9% in July 2019, down -14.9% year-to-date to 32.911 and 47.7% share vs. 44.2% a year ago, PHEV is up a whopping 141.6% to 2.278 and 23.3% share vs. 10.3% and up 47.6% YTD to 14.347 and 20.8% share vs. 11.1% but HEV is off -39.6% to 811 and down -37.7% so far this year to 6.601. In contrast diesel sinks from 18.8% share a year ago to 12.8% and 1.249 units this month and petrol thaws from 18.3% share a year ago to 10.5% and 1.026 sales. Private sales amount to 49.6% of the market and 4.851 sales vs. 48.5% a year ago, and 4WD deliveries surge 21.5% to 4.756 and 48.7% share vs. 42.6% in July 2019 and 44.8% YTD vs. 49.2% last year.

The Audi e-Tron is back to #1 in Norway in July.

The Norwegian brands ranking has a new leader: Mercedes, shooting up a whopping 589.7% year-on-year to a new record 9.6% share thanks to one single model as we’ll see further down. Our records indicate this is the very first time Mercedes is the best-selling brand in Norway, smashing its previous ranking record of #3 hit five times over the past decade: in  January 2011, May 2016, June 2017, July 2017 and April 2020. It is also a new share record, its previous best being 7.8% in May 2017, June 2017 and April 2020. Audi (+22.9%) also rallies up 7 spots on June to return to the #2 ranking it holds YTD, while Volvo (+16%) is down one rank to #3 and Volkswagen (-41.4%), grossly underperforming, is down 3 to #4. Ford (+89.8%), Peugeot (+71.6%), Skoda (+36.5%), Hyundai (+16.3%) and BMW (+11.5%) also post spectacular gains in the remainder of the Top 10 where Toyota (-42.2%) sinks. Further down, newcomer MG improves further to a record #11 and 3.4% are, while Seat (+2150%), Porsche (+788%), DSS (+333.3%), Mitsubishi (+207.8%), Subaru (+124.3%) and Suzuki (+48,.4%) all post surreal gains. The darling of 2019, Tesla (-93.3%) completely implodes now that almost all Model 3 years-long orders have been delivered.

The MG ZS breaks into the Norwegian Top 5 in July.

It’s the month of premium German EVs in Norway, with the Audi e-Tron (+52%) bouncing back up 5 spots on June to return to the pole position it holds year-to-date and the Mercedes EQC up 11 ranks to reach a record 2nd place, accounting for 74% of the brand’s sales for the month and single-handedly lifting it to its first ever Norwegian win. The Skoda Octavia (+75.6%) and Hyundai Kona (+31.5%) also shine below while the MG ZS brilliantly breaks into the Top 5 for the first time. The Ford Kuga (+700%), BMW X1 (+483.7%), Mitsubishi Outlander (+248.9%) and Volvo XC40 (+208.6%) are all boosted by their PHEV variants, while the Skoda Citigo (+7950%) and Peugeot 208 (+2066.7%) are lifted by new EV versions.

Previous month: Norway June 2020: Volvo XC40 up to record #4, MG ZS repeats in Top 10, Tesla down -85.1%, market off -25.5%

One year ago: Norway July 2019: Audi e-Tron scores first podium in the world

Full July 2020 Top 50 All-brands and Top 210 All-models below.