Norway January 2026: VW ID.3 in the lead, Deepal S05 at #5 in devastated market (-76.3%)

The Deepal S05 is up to a world best 5th place in January.

It’s a catastrophic month for new car sales in Norway, down -76.3% year-on-year in January to just 2,218 units. The reason behind this fall is simple: up until 31/12/2025 the VAT on BEVs up to 500,000 NOK (44,000€) was 0%, but from 1/1/2026 the limit was lowered to 300,000 NOK (26,600€) and all cars above that price will now have a 25% VAT. Therefore carmakers rushed to register as many cars as possible in December (35,188 sales) to avoid the higher VAT level, finding themselves with lots of 0 km “used” cars already registered on their lot. Thanks to our local contact Jan for the explanation. Note the BEV share is 94% this month vs. 95.8% in January 2025 which was a record at the time.

In this unusual context, Volkswagen (-76.8%) takes the lead of the brands charts with 19.9% share ahead of Toyota (-78.2%) and Skoda (-56.8%) resisting better. Mercedes (-80.3%) and Hyundai (-66.1%) round out the Top 5, followed by Tesla (-88%) and Volvo (-84.4%) hit even harder than the market. The surprise of the month is the arrival of Chinese newcomer Deepal at #8. JAC (+525%), Citroen (+231.6%), Renault (+75%) and Zeekr (+34.8%) ignore the gloomy context with fantastic year-on-year lifts.

Over in the models charts, the VW ID.3 (-44.3%) takes a clear lead with 13.5% share, this is the nameplate’s first win in Norway since November 2020. #1 a year ago, the Toyota bZ4X plunges -84.5% to #2 but at 8.3% it doubles its FY2025 share. The new Toyota Urban Cruiser, a rebadged Suzuki e Vitara, is up 111 spots on December to a world-best #3, it is followed by two other recent launches: the Skoda Elroq at #4 and the Deepal S05 at #5, the performance of the month. The new Nissan Micra, now a BEV based on the Renault 5, breaks into the Top 10 at #9 with 2.6% share, the vehicle’s best performance in the world so far (it is only available in Europe). Other great performers include the JAC E30X at #12 and the Renault 5 at #15.

Previous post: Norway Full Year 2025: Record market (+39.5%), Tesla and Model Y at all time high

One year ago: Norway January 2025: BEVs at record 95.8% share, Toyota bZ4X in top spot

Full January 2026 Top 50 All brands and Top 137 All models below.