Image: TeslaAccording to data from the Norwegian Authority for Vehicle Statistics (OFV), a total of 17,685 new passenger cars were registered in Norway in March, including 17,406 battery-electric vehicles. This corresponds to an electric share of 98.4 per cent, leaving just 1.6 per cent for all other powertrain types.In absolute terms, only 279 vehicles were registered with alternative drivetrains, including 22 petrol and 126 diesel cars, with the remainder accounted for by hybrids. Even by Norwegian standards, these figures are notable. The OFV described the BEV share as a new monthly record, narrowly surpassing the previous high of 98.3 per cent recorded in September 2025.Norway closed the first quarter with a battery-electric share of 97.9%. Between January and March, only 558 non-electric cars were registered, compared to 2,606 in the same period last year, according to OFV statistics. However, the overall market in Norway took some time to regain momentum after the turn of the year: the 17,685 units registered in March represent a significant jump compared to February and especially January, which saw only 7,272 and 2,218 new registrations across all powertrains, respectively.“March shows that new passenger car registrations are recovering after a weak start to the year. We are seeing a clear increase in volume, a new record for the share of electric cars, and a significant decline in registrations of cars with internal combustion engines,” summarises Geir Inge Stokke, Director of the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council.The slump in January was caused by several changes at the turn of the year, which affected both regulations and incentives from 1 January 2026. As a result, many Norwegians brought forward their car purchases to November and December to benefit from the old purchase tax rules. This led to record figures at the end of the year and extremely low registration numbers in January. However, the one-off effect was limited to a short period of just a few weeks, as the March figures now demonstrate.A closer look at the March figures reveals that the 17,406 battery-electric vehicles accounted for the aforementioned 98.4% market share. The 126 new diesel cars represented 0.71% of the market, while the 120 petrol plug-in hybrids made up 0.68%. Petrol hybrids, with 5 new registrations, accounted for 0.03% of the market, and the 22 pure petrol cars for 0.12%. The statistics are rounded off by six diesel plug-in hybrids, which held a 0.03% market share.Among the brands, Tesla dominated in March with a commanding 34.8% market share, followed by Volvo with 10.1% and Toyota with 8.4%. Volkswagen ranked fourth with a 7.2% market share, around four percentage points lower than in March 2025.According to OFV statistics, Tesla’s new registrations in Norway for the first three months of the year account for a 27.4% market share. This marks a clear improvement compared to the first quarters of 2024 and 2025. However, Tesla’s peak year of 2023 saw even higher figures, with 7,902 new registrations in March 2023 alone, equating to a 40.8% market share.Unsurprisingly, Tesla’s best-selling Model Y leads the model rankings with 14,288 new registrations and a 24.3% market share, while the Model 3, with 1,860 registrations and a 10.5% share, ranks second. Volvo’s EX40 (901 registrations, third place) and EX30 (730 registrations, fifth place) contribute to the brand’s market share. In between, the long-popular Toyota bZ4X secured fourth place in the model rankings with 883 registrations.Somewhat behind the top five, the VW ID.4, the first MEB model from the Volkswagen Group, follows with 488 registrations. The top 10 also includes the BYD Sealion 7 (476), Toyota Urban Cruiser (476), Škoda Elroq (447), and BMW X3 (430). Expanding the view to the top 15 models reveals that, alongside established European, Japanese, and American brands, several Chinese manufacturers are playing an increasingly important role in the market. In particular, BYD, XPeng, and Zeekr are driving growth,” according to the OFV.ofv.no (press release), ofv.no (statistics, both in Norwegian)
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