Norway Full Year 2021: Tesla #1 brand, electrified share up to 91.7% in record market (+24.7%)

Tesla is the #1 brand in Norway for the first time in 2021.

Discover 65 years of Norwegian Historical Data here.

New car sales in Norway surge 24.7% year-on-year in 2021 to hit a new annual volume record at 176,276 units. The previous record dated from 1986 with 167,352 sales. Norway continues to lead the world as far as electrified cars acceptance is concerned. These vehicles hold a world-record 91.7% share in 2021 thanks to sales up 37.1% to 161,697. This is compared with 83.4% share in 2020, 68.3%  in 2019, 60.2% in 2018, 52.2% in 2017, 40.2% in 2016 and just 7% in 2012. In the detail, BEV soars 48.1% to 113,751 and 64.5% share vs. 54.3% in 2020 and 42.4% in 2019, PHEV is up 32% to 38,166 and 21.6% share vs. 20.4% in 2020 and 13.5% in 2019 and HEV recedes -20.1% to 9,780 and 5.5% share vs. 8.6% in 2020 and 12.3% in 2019. Petrol sales drop to 4.2% share vs. 8% in 2020 and diesel is down to 4% share vs. 8.6% last year.

Tesla (+133.5%) more than doubles its sales year-on-year to lift 5 spots and easily snap the #1 brand title for the year with 11.6% of the market. Norway is the first market in the world to officially crown Tesla as its annual best-selling brand. Volkswagen (-12.2%) is knocked down to #2 ahead of Toyota (+22.7%) while Volvo (+45.6%) brilliantly overtakes BMW (+15.5%). Audi (+0.8%) is in difficulty and drops three spots to #6 while both Skoda (+36.8%) and Ford (+189.4%) post market-beating gains to land at #7 and #8 respectively. Notice also Citroen (+154.7%), Lexus (+135%) and Polestar (+44.8%) shining in the remainder of the Top 25. After MG (#16) launched in late 2019 and Xpeng (+414%) in late 2020, four new Chinese brands launched in Norway in 2020: BYD lands at #24 and its Tang peaked at #8 in October, NIO arrives at #35, Hongqi at #40 and DFSK at #55. The Chinese carmakers are using the EV channel to introduce their lineup in Europe and logically start with Norway as an anchor point to the wider continent.

Model-wise, the Tesla Model 3 (+55.2%) reclaims the top spot it lost in 2020 with 6.8% share but only ranked #1 in the monthly charts twice: in March and June. The Toyota RAV4 (+102.4%) doubles its volume and jumps from #7 in 2020 to #2 this year. There are no less than four 2021 launches in the Top 8: the VW ID.4 lands directly at #3 with 4.9% share and topped the charts in April and October, the Tesla Model Y ranks 4th and topped the charts in August, September, November and December and seems ideally geared up to win in 2022. The Ford Mustang Mach-E arrives at #6 and topped the ranking in May and July. The Skoda Enyaq lands at #8 and peaked at #2 in July and October. Below the Nissan Leaf (+1.8%), leader in 2018, the Polestar 2 (+44.9%) scores its first and only Top 10 finish in the world at #10. Among other 2021 launches, notice the Hyundai Ioniq 5 at #12, the Audi Q4 at #16 and the BMW iX3 at #22.

Previous month: Norway November 2021: Tesla Model Y and Model 3 top market up 21.9%

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

Two years ago: Norway 2019: Tesla Model 3 storms into top spot in world-leading market for electrified vehicles (68.3%) and EVs (42.4%)

Full December 2021 Top 50 All-brands and Top 222 All-models below.

Full Year 2021 Top 63 All-brands and Top XXX All-models vs. Full Year 2020 figures below.