May saw plugin #EVs take 82.3% share in Norway’s auto market, down from 88.9% year on year. The dip was likely due to a low ebb of shipping by three of the biggest BEV manufacturers — BEV share is still climbing overall this year. Total monthly auto volume was 7,893 units, down 23% YoY.
The new Volvo EX30 remained the best selling auto.
May’s results saw combined EVs take 82.3% share in #Norway, comprising 77.0% full electrics (BEVs), and 5.3% plugin hybrids (PHEVs). These compare with YoY figures of 88.9% combined, 80.7% BEV and 8.2% PHEV.
The relatively low BEV volume (and market share) in May is not due to some sudden reversal of buying preferences from the average #Norwegian consumer, but instead most likely due to a temporary shipping logistics dip from the three most popular manufacturers. The BEVs from #BMW, #Volkswagen Group, and #Tesla, remain popular in Norway in recent months, though Tesla and VW Group are losing share compared to recent years. Each of these big three brands had a big volume dip in May compared to April, which strongly suggests the influence of erratic shipping allocations, which small markets (like Norway) can suffer from.
Volkswagen Group BEVs saw 1,895 registrations in May 2024, 805 units down from May 2023. In April, however, the group registered 3,173 units, which was 703 units up on April 2023. Likewise BMW saw 303 registrations in May, down 538 from May 2023. April 2024, however, saw 576 units, up by 85 units YoY.
Tesla saw 830 registrations in May, down by 2116 units YoY. In April, however, their volume was 872 units, just 10% off YoY.
In sum, these three manufacturers saw a shortfall of 3,459 deliveries in May, whereas BEVs overall were 2,880 units down. Put differently, excluding these big three, sales of BEVs from all other brands actually increased by 14%, or around 580 units YoY. Much of this growth came from the Volvo and MG brands, with other brands fairly flat YoY.
Long story short – BEVs likely don’t have any significant demand-side problem in Norway — beyond the broader economic slowdown — as they are as popular as ever so far this year in terms of market share. However, small volume markets are vulnerable to the vagaries of batch shipments and erratic temporary allocation priorities, in other words, supply-side challenges.
With BEVs at temporary low volume, other powertrain shares looked relatively shiny in May. For some reason (ask #Toyota), May is one of the year’s peak months for plugless #HEV sales, so HEV share temporarily looked good at 12.2%. Stepping back, year to date HEV volume is down 15% from the same period in 2023, and their overall share has fallen, currently at 6.4%.