Electric automaker Tesla has once again dominated the Norwegian electric vehicle market for a third consecutive year in 2023, Reuters reports, citing Norwegian Road Federation’s (OFV) registration data.
Tesla’s continuous growth aligns with the overall advancement of the electric vehicle market in the country, reaching a share of 82% in the entire automotive industry last year.
Norway’s EV industry growth
Impressively, battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for nearly five out of six car sales in Norway in 2023, owing to Tesla’s strong influence in the market. In fact, Tesla successfully increased its market share from just 12.2% to 20.0% last year.
As per OFV’s registration data, EVs held an astounding market share of 82.4% in 2023. It represents a notable year-on-year growth from 79.3% in 2022.
Notably, the Norwegian government aims to advance as the pioneering country to ditch traditional internal combustion engine-powered (ICE) vehicles by 2025 amid the intensified shift to electric vehicles.
Excitingly, experts project the Norwegian electric vehicle market to hit 95% share in 2024, just a year before the government’s 2025 target of 100% EV sales.
“It is a big jump but we’ve had a similar jump previously, from 2021 to 2022, where we had a jump of almost 15 percentage points, so I think we can do it in 2024.”
Norwegian EV Association Head Christina Bu
Tesla’s major challenges
Tesla has been struggling in its local operations in the Nordic region due to ongoing Swedish strikes, Tesla North reports. The Musk-led company battles a significant backlash from labor unions and pension funds as it declines to adhere to the collective bargaining rights demand.
In effect, Swedish workers such as truck drivers, postal employees, electricians, cleaners, dockworkers, and others refuse to work for Tesla. They also apparently gained support from other unions in Norway, Denmark, and Finland, further making it hard for the American electric automaker to import its EVs into the local market.
Despite these challenges, Tesla seems to maintain its dominance in Europe, particularly in Norway. In fact, Norwegian EV Association Head Christina Bu stated that they “see no signals” indicating adverse effects on Tesla’s performance in the market.
Tesla Model Y’s dominance
The popular Tesla Model Y crossover enabled the American brand to control the largest share of the Norwegian market at 20% in 2023. Japanese legacy automaker Toyota followed with 12.4% market share, while German rival Volkswagen had 10.8%.
For context, the Tesla Model Y costs 452,000 Norwegian crowns ($44,250) in Norway. Impressively, it has once again dominated the sales ranking in the country, beating local rivals like the VW ID.4 and the Skoda Enyaq.
The report did not indicate the specific figures for Tesla Model Y’s sales in 2023, only noting that it “was again the most popular model of the year.” However, OFV’s registration data revealed that the Tesla Model Y sold a total of 23,088 units in 2023, with a share of 18.2%.
Beyond Norway, Tesla reported a significant milestone in 2023 with the achievement of its 1.8 million sales target due to the unprecedented popularity of the Model Y and its sibling Model 3. The imminent mass production of the Tesla Cybertruck will undoubtedly further boost the brand’s dominance in the global EV industry.
