Norway January 2021: Toyota RAV4 secures first ever win, electrified vehicles at 88.8% share, market up 7.7%

The Toyota RAV4 is the best-selling vehicle in Norway in January. Picture finansavisen.no

December 2020 was the biggest month in Norwegian history as manufacturers rushed registrations to lower their average CO2 emissions for the year and avoid or lower fines. The share of electrified vehicles hit a record 92.5% then with BEVs at a record 66.7% of the market. Logically, January is a hangover month for some but Norway is one of only two European markets in positive alongside Sweden with sales up 7.7% to 10.301 units. BEV sales are up 28.9% to 5.461 and 53% share vs. 44.3% a year ago, PHEV sales rise 48.4% to 2.848 and 27.6% share vs. 20.1% in January 2020 and HEV sales drop -33.9% to 836 and vs. 14.1% a year ago. All-in-all, electrified vehicles hold 88.8% of the Norwegian market in January vs. 77.6% a year ago and 63.5% in January 2019… In contrast petrol cars hold 5% of the market vs. 11% a year ago and diesel is at 6.2% share vs. 11.4% in January 2020.

Cards are redistributed in the brands ranking with Toyota (+14.8%) in the top spot for the 2nd time in the past 3 months at a strong 12.8% share vs. 9.1% over the Full Year 2020. BMW (+15.7%) is up to 10.4% share vs. 6.8% and Volvo (+52.3%) up to 10.3% vs. 6.7%. Peugeot (+409.9%) is up 5-fold year-on-year and 9 spots on December to #5, with Mercedes (+74.9%), Kia (+69.8%) and Polestar (#8) also impressive in the remainder of the Top 10. Just outside, MG (+4157.1%) celebrates one year in market at #11 vs. #16 last month. In contrast, Volkswagen (-46%) drops from #2 in December to #7 and Tesla (-44.3%) from #1 to #21. Jeep (+8600%), Maxus (+6900%), Fiat (+307.1%), Lexus (+169%), Mazda (+124.3%) and Honda (+110%) all post surreal year-on-year gains further down the charts.

New green variants completely reshuffle the models ranking this month. The Toyota RAV4 (+178.1%) scores its first ever monthly win in Norway thanks to the new PHEV variant. It distances last year’s leader the Audi e-Tron (-18.6%). The Volvo XC40 (+428%) is up 5-fold thanks to the Recharge variant, the Peugeot 2008 (+1409.1%) is up 15-fold thanks to the e-2008 and the Mercedes EQC (+597%) is up 7-fold year-on-year in 5th place overall. The Polestar 2 remains very strong, down just one spot on December to #6 with the BMW X1 (+646.2%) and Kia Niro (+162.6%) also sporting extravagant gains. Below the Polestar 2, the most successful recent launches are the Mazda MX-30 (#13), VW ID.3 (#25 down from #2 in December) and Maxus Euniq (#36).

Previous post: Norway Full Year 2020: Audi e-Tron, Tesla Model 3 and VW ID.3 best-sellers, electrified share up to 83.4% 

One year ago: Norway January 2020: Electrified share up to record 78.5%, Audi e-Tron and Renault Zoe top market up 6.2%

Full January 2021 Top 42 All-brands and Top 180 All-models below.