Sales of new passenger cars fell in 2019

Almost 4 percent fewer cars were sold in 2019 than the year before in Norway. At the same time, the increase in the sales of electric cars continues.

A total of 142,381 new passenger cars were sold in Norway in 2019. This is a decrease of 3.8 per cent from 2018, revealed figures collected by the Road Information Board.

Of the new cars sold, 60,316 were electric cars, an increase of 30.9 percent from the previous year. With that, 42.4 percent of all new cars sold last year were electric.

The Tesla Model 3 was the bestseller. Director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen in the Information Council for Road Traffic is not surprised by the large increase.

“Electric car sales were about as expected, based on what is available from available makes and models. But now, in 2020 and beyond, there will be a much wider range of cars that are both longer in range, larger and in affordable price ranges for most people. Therefore, we believe that the electric car share will be even higher in 2020 than in 2019,“ said Solberg Thorsen in a press release.

It was also an electric car that became Norway’s best-selling model last year. Tesla Model 3 sold 15,683 copies, followed by Volkswagen Golf with 10,025 cars.

Nevertheless, Volkswagen became the best-selling car brand in Norway in 2018 with a total of 18,949 new passenger cars in Norway. Here Tesla came in second place with 18,798 cars sold.

Big decrease in demand for fuel cars
As much as electric car sales increase, sales of gas cars dipped. Last year, 22,354 petrol cars were sold, which is 31.4 per cent less than in 2018. For diesel cars, there was a lower decline of 13.1 per cent.

“The fact that petrol cars decreased by more than diesel cars is partly due to the fact that many of the petrol cars are small cars and for these there are now many full or partial electrical alternatives. Diesel cars tend to be larger, more powerful and more spacious family cars that more people want. This is also reflected in the sale of large electric cars,” observed Solberg Thorsen.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today