Petrol and diesel car sales approach ZERO as electric vehicles secure 98% market share in Norway

Electric cars made up a staggering 98 per cent of new vehicles in Norway last month, with less than 200 petrol and diesel vehicles being registered.

New data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) shows that 15,560 new passenger cars were registered last month, an increase of nine per cent compared to the previous year.

Of these, 15,120 vehicles were electric, representing 97.8 per cent of total sales in May and 98.03 per cent across 2026 so far.

In comparison, drivers turned their backs on petrol and diesel cars, with just 32 and 118 sales respectively.

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Motorists also avoided investing in hybrid cars, with five diesel plug-ins, 92 petrol plug-ins and 103 petrol hybrids flying off Norwegian forecourts.

The OFV noted that, since the new car market is "almost entirely electric", competition has shifted to offering the best value for price, range and delivery time.

It noted that several of the models that topped sales lists have been covered by promotions and "favourable" interest rate offers.

Tesla captured an impressive 21.5 per cent of the market, with 3,345 new sales, followed by Toyota (1,976), Volkswagen (1,761), Volvo (844) and BMW (832).

One-in-five new vehicles sold in Norway were the Tesla Model Y, more than quadrupling the next best-selling model, namely the Toyota Urban Cruiser (720).

Tesla had seen lower sales in recent months, but sharply increased volumes towards the end of May with suitable finance offers.

Chinese car brands have also made an impact on the best-selling list, including the Xpeng G6 (295), BYD EVO 4x4 (250), BYD Sealion 7 (246), Xpeng G9 (241) and the Changan Deepal S05 (164).

Geir Inge Stokke, CEO of the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council, said: "We see that price and financing mean a lot to car buyers now.

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"Many households still have higher costs than a few years ago, and interest rate campaigns and good offers can be decisive in whether the purchase is actually made."

Mr Stokke highlighted that the electric car market was maturing, with different brands and models reaching the same segments of the market.

Lesser-known brands that many British drivers are not familiar with are seeing success in Norway, including Xpeng, Changan, Zeekr, Seres and Voyah.

Despite the success of the new car market, 34 per cent of second-hand vehicle sales were diesel in May.

Electric cars captured a market share of 27.7 per cent last month, while EVs remain the largest in the used car market with a share of 34.4 per cent this year.

The Volkswagen Golf was the best-selling second-hand car so far this year and last month, while the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 also placed highly.

Mr Stokke added: "Although the top lists in the used car market look different than in the new car market, the development is going in the same direction.

"Electric cars are increasingly taking up space, and models like Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are now high on the top lists. This shows how new car trends are gradually spreading further in the market."

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