Norway October 2020

 

Skoda Octavia PHEV: Norway's next Success Story?

VW ID.3 shines in a 79% share market

BEVs are becoming the norm in Norway, as they were responsible for 61% of the Norwegian market last month, up 110% last month, to 7.873 units, pulling the YTD share to 52%, while plugin hybrids, in the context of growing sales across Europe, only registered 2.372 units, more or less the same as October '19, being responsible for 18% share of the overall market (20% YTD), pulling the 2020 PEV share to a record 72%.

Looking at the fuels breakdown, if BEVs are up, everything else is down, and even PHEVs are now suffering from the blackhole effect of BEVs, as their share last month (18%) was down regarding the YTD number (20%), but that is nothing compared with the debacle of the other fuels: HEVs now have just 7% share of the market, petrol vehicles is down to 6% share (it had 11% a year ago), diesel has also 6%, while in the same month last year, the black fuel had 17% share...Will we see diesel disappear next year?

Another record to take in account, is the fact that 88% of all October sales belonged to electrified (BEV+PHEV+HEV) vehicles, so we should see months next year where pure ICE sales will be basically non existent...

And the plugin total fleet share is jumping, with the numbers now hovering at 14%...So even fuel pumps are now starting to feel the disruption... 

Looking at October model sales by fuel, we have once again a 100% BEV Top 5, with the VW ID.3 scoring a second win, with 2.475 units, considering the remaining behavior of the ID.3 across Europe, it is clear that VW has Norway as on of its top priority markets for its new electric baby.

The remaining Top 5 is far behind, and has saw the MG ZS EV reach the runner-up position, thanks to a record 586 registrations, while the Nissan Leaf was 3rd(!), with 579 registrations its best result in 2020, with the Japanese hatchback scoring its first podium position since April. See Nissan, discounting does makes sales go up!...

Interestingly, in #6 we have the hot new Toyota RAV4 PHEV, winning again the PHEV Best Seller award, with 444 units, a promising start for the plugin Toyota, that places the popular SUV as a strong candidate for the 2021 Best Selling PHEV award in Norway. (And globally too?) 

Pl	Model	Sales
1	VW ID.3	2.475
2	SAIC MG ZS EV	586
3	Nissan Leaf	579
4	Hyundai Kona EV	519
5	Audi e-Tron	513

Looking at the 2020 ranking, the VW ID.3 stormed the table, jumping 8 positions, to #3, and with the runnout-out mode #2 VW e-Golf just 278 units behind, expect VW's new EV to surpass its predecessor next month, in what should be a significant sign of where the market is going.

The BMW i3 rejoined the Top 10, jumping two positions, to #10, proving that Norway is one of the most important markets for the small BMW.

In the unplugged category, there are some good news and some bad news, if the ICE-only  Skoda Octavia dropped to #12, having seen its sales dry up, as people are now waiting for the  PHEV version, the Toyota hybrid pack has seen two models climb in the table, with the Corolla Hybrid rising to #14 and the Yaris Hybrid climbing to #19, thus escaping, for now at least, the possibility to be kicked out of the Top 20. 

Outside the Top 20, the highlight was the aforementioned 444 deliveries of the Toyota RAV4 PHEV, a badly needed model for the brand, as its plugless hybrid lineup is starting to suffer from the EV blackhole effect, but the Kia Niro EV also deserves a mention, having scored 244 units, a new personal best, so it seems the recent production ramp up of the Korean maker allowed it to have more units available for this market.

Finally, a few words also for the Mazda MX-30, despite being a somewhat niche product, the fact that Mazda needs to comply with the EU's CO2 rules, is making it push the sports crossover sales in Europe, although in Norway, the sales push (317 deliveries last month) has more to do with the market dynamics than anything else, as ICE models just don't pull the wagon anymore, as Mazda's remaining (ICE) models only clocked 195 registrations in October... 

Looking at the overall manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen (14%, up 1%) is increasing the lead, thanks to the ID.3 deliveries, while below it, we have Toyota (9%) surpassing a falling Audi (8%, down 1%) and stealing the runner-up spot.

Outside the podium, BMW and Volvo are leading a pack of makers (Hyundai, Mercedes)  all with 6% share, all looking to reach the podium sometime in the future.