In April, the share of battery-electric passenger cars again approached 99 per cent, while it reached 97.8 per cent in May. Norway is thus cementing a consistent trend that points to the end of the country’s long-running drivetrain transition. “The Norwegian new car market is now almost entirely electric,” stated the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV). “Competition is increasingly focused on which brands and models excel in terms of price, range, space, delivery time, and financing.”

Before looking at the individual models, it is worth reviewing the broader market figures. Norway registered 15,560 new cars in May, down 9.1 per cent year-on-year compared to May 2025, but up from April, when 11,103 new cars were registered.

Over the first five months of the year, registrations in Norway were 5.8 per cent below the level recorded in the same period of 2025, with 53,846 new cars registered compared to 57,142 a year earlier. “If new car sales remain too low over time, the renewal of the vehicle fleet will slow down,” said Geir Inge Stokke, Managing Director of the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council.

The trend therefore points towards fewer overall registrations, but an almost entirely electric market. Battery-electric vehicles dominated in May with 15,210 new registrations and faced virtually no competition.

The remaining powertrains played only a marginal role. Diesel cars accounted for 118 new registrations and a market share of 0.8 per cent, while petrol cars reached 32 units or 0.2 per cent. In addition, Norway registered 92 petrol plug-in hybrids (0.6 per cent), 103 petrol full hybrids (0.7 per cent) and five diesel plug-in hybrids, which statistically equated to 0 per cent.

Looking at individual models, the Tesla Model Y led by a wide margin with 3,126 new registrations in May. However, OFV noted ‘how unevenly registrations are distributed throughout the month. After several quiet weeks, Tesla’s registration volume surged sharply towards the end of May.’

Behind Tesla, the market proved more competitive. Toyota took second and third place with the Urban Cruiser (720 units) and the C-HR+ (661 units). Volkswagen followed with the ID.4, ID.7 and ID.3. Another Toyota, the bZ4X, ranked seventh, ahead of the BMW iX3, the Škoda Elroq and the Volvo EX40.

The first Chinese electric model, the Xpeng G6, placed eleventh, while BYD also appeared close to the top 10 with two models.

“Several of the models that topped the registration statistics in May were part of special promotions and attractive financing offers,” explained the OFV. According to the experts, this likely contributed to the rise in registrations in May, ‘but it also makes the market more promotion-driven.’

The Road Traffic Information Council also highlighted changing buyer demographics. “Toyota’s performance in recent months shows that new models can quickly gain market share if they meet the mark in terms of price, size, range, and availability. […] While Tesla and various Chinese brands primarily attract buyers around the age of 40, the new Toyota models seem to appeal to an older audience. The average age of private Toyota buyers in May was 63—20 years older than Tesla buyers, whose average age was 43.”

According to OFV, this development indicates that the electric vehicle market is continuing to mature.

In Norway’s used car market, however, battery-electric vehicles did not dominate in May. Last month, a total of 41,625 changes of ownership were recorded. Diesel was the dominant powertrain, accounting for a 34% market share. Electric cars achieved a share of 27.7%, while petrol cars made up 25.2%. However, in the year to date, electric cars are narrowly leading the Norwegian used car market—with a share of 34.4%.

“Although the rankings in the used car market differ from those in the new car market, the trend is moving in the same direction. Electric cars are occupying an ever-larger space, and models like the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are now high on the bestseller lists. This shows how trends from the new car market are gradually spreading into the broader market,” say the OFV analysts.

ofv.no (in Norwegian)