Norway March 2021: Tesla Model 3 leads, VW ID.4 lands on podium, Xpeng up

Chinese EV maker Xpeng is climbing up the Norwegian sales charts. Picture elbil.no

The Norwegian new car market advances 23.1% year-on-year in March to 15.321 units, keeping in mind March 2020 was down -32.2% on the year prior. The year-to-date tally stands at 36.309 units, up 12.2% on the same period last year. BEV sales are up 23.7% to 8.624 and 56.3% share vs. 55.9% a year ago, PHEVs surge 83.1% to 4.379 and 28.6% share vs. 19.2% in March 2020 and HEVs edge down -2.1% to 865 and 5.6% share vs. 7.1% a year ago. This means electrified vehicles represent 90.5% of Norwegian sales at 13.868 units vs. 87.3% last month and 82.2% a year ago in March 2020 which at the time was a record. Petrol vehicles hold a tiny 4.8% share this month vs. 7.7% a year ago and diesel is at 4.7% vs. 10% a year ago. Over the First Quarter of 2021, BEVs soar 17.2% to 19.159 and 52.8% share vs. 50.5% over Q1 2020, PHEVs are up 70.9% to 10.632 and 29.3% share vs. 19.2% last year and HEVs are down -20.1% to 2.573 and 7.1% share vs. 9.9%. So far this year, electrified vehicles hold 89.1% of the Norwegian market at 32.364 units vs. 79.6% over Q1 2020.

The Tesla Model 3 holds 14.2% share in Norway this month.

Tesla (+92.8%) surges 12 spots on February to reclaim the lead of the brands ranking with 14.2% share solely due to a boatload of Model 3 just in time for the end of the Quarter as is now the habit for the American manufacturer. It now ranks #4 year-to-date vs. #6 over the Full Year 2020. Toyota (+92.2%) remains in 2nd place above Volvo (+107.2%) down two spots on last month to #3. The VW Group isn’t feeling the best this month, with Audi (-70.9%), Skoda (-38.5%) and Volkswagen (-11.8%) all going against the positive market trend. In contrast Peugeot (+53.1%), Mercedes (+50.5%) and BMW (+48.4%) easily outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, MG (+140.9%) ranks at #13, Polestar celebrates one year in market at #14 with 2.6% share and Xpeng leaps up 12 spots on February to hit a record 23rd place, equal with Citroen and above Fiat and Porsche. A good start for the Chinese EV brand.

The VW ID.4 lands on the Norwegian podium. Picture elbil.no

Over in the models ranking, the Tesla Model 3 (+117.6%) loads up on registrations, holding 14.2% of the market and shooting up to #1 year-to-date as well. The Toyota RAV4 (+876.3%) is up 10-fold year-on-year thanks to its new green variants but drops to #2 while the VW ID.4 spends its first full month of sales directly on the podium at #3. The Volvo XC40 (+349.4%) is down two ranks to #4, with the Peugeot 2008 (+3488.9%), BMW X1 (+1113.3%), Mercedes EQC (+240.5%) and MG ZS (+111.7%) also posting surreal gains in the remainder of the Top 15. Below the VW ID.4, the Polestar 2 (#8) is the second most popular recent launch in the country (<12 months), distancing the BMW iX3 (#26), Xpeng G3 (#27), Mazda MX-30 (#35) and VW ID.3 (#43). The Skoda Enyaq (#66) and Audi e-Tron GT (#78) make their first appearance in the Norwegian charts.

Previous month: Norway February 2021: Volvo top brand for first time in 6 years, Toyota RAV4 repeats at #1, market up 3.3%

One year ago: Norway March 2020: e-Tron lifts Audi to first brands crown, electrified sales up to record 82.2% in market down -32.2%

Full March 2021 Top 45 All-brands and Top 195 All-models below.