Audi, Mercedes and Polestar lead sales in world’s most successful EV market

The Polestar 2 electric vehicle from Volvo’s eponymous all-electric brand Polestar has claimed one of top place in Norway in its first full month of deliveries in August, although its ability to hold that ranking will be tested by the imminent release of the VW electric ID.3 and an end-of-quarter ramp up of Tesla deliveries.

Norway is the most successful market for electric vehicles and 70% of all sales in August were either all-electric or plug-in hybrid – and although the broader auto sales market was down in August, electric vehicle sales rose, just as they have, albeit from a much lower base, in Australia and other markets.

An 11% drop in overall car sales year-on-year was bucked by a 21% increase in all-electric vehicle sales, reports EV Sales’ Jose Pontes, and it is clear that new models are being warmly welcomed by the Norwegians.

Although the Tesla Model 3 took Norway by storm in 2019, it is no longer first choice among electric vehicle buyers – that title has been taken by the Audi e-Tron for some months now.

But for a non-Tesla EV, the Polestar 2 is doing well in its first month. Almost 500 of the 5,704 electric vehicles sold in August in Norway were the Polestar 2, a sleek premium EV that Volvo has said will now be offered in Australia in 2021 after a 2020 launch was delayed by the pandemic.

The Polestar 2 jumped out of nowhere to overtake the VW e-Golf and Hyundai Kona Electric, coming in as the third most bought vehicle in Norway in August after the Audi e-Tron (755 sold) and the Mercedes-Benz EQC (595 sold) which has apparently overcome production issues.

There are at least 700 Volkswagen ID.3 electric hatches arriving in Norway at the end of August and Tesla characteristically puts its shoulder to the grindstone as it reaches the end of the quarter, so the picture could look very different for the Polestar 2 by the month’s end.

Already in the first third of September the Model 3 is leading the pack in monthly sales with 383 registered, followed by the VW ID.3 with 300 registered according to Elbil Statistikk.

The strong September deliveries for the Tesla Model 3 means it is back in with a chance of claiming a place in the top 5 for year-to-date sales (according to Pontes, it has been relegated to #7 in August sales).

In terms of total volume however, it is the Tesla Model 3 that has more of a chance of overtaking well established models like the Nissan Leaf (62,854), the VW e-Golf (47,074) and the BMW i3 (26,953).

Although the Model 3 has only been available since early 2019, Tesla has already sold 18,151 units in Norway based on registration data.

While the Kia e-Soul is also a popular vehicle in Norway (there have been 19,629 registered there), its numbers are largely due to parallel imports which account for 67% of those registered.