Volkswagen will sell only EVs in Norway from 2024

Volkswagen will pull all its new combustion engine cars from the Norwegian market from 2024, the company’s local importer has said.

The Norwegian government has already put in place a target to discourage the sale of combustion engine cars altogether from 2025. It is already a market leader in electrification of transport, and more than eight of of 1o new passenger cars sold are already battery electric there, the result of three decades of supportive policy in Norway.

The new announcement that came via Volkswagen’s importer Møller Mobility Group – which imports and sells all Volkswagen group vehicles including VW, Audi, Škoda and Cupra.

It means that Volkswagen in Norway would say goodbye to combustion engines two years earlier than demanded by the Norwegian government, as the Volkswagen cut off date for new ICE sales will be January 1, 2024.

And although Norway is already a leader in adoption of electric cars, the majority of cars still on the road – more than 80% – are still run by fossil fuels.

Head of the Volkswagen importer Ulf Tore Hekneby says he thinks the Norwegian government targets should be stronger so that the phase out of all combustion cars on the road can be achieved sooner.

At an event with the Zero Environmental Foundation last week, Hekneby said he wants to see more ambitious government targets, such as a fixed date by which at least half of the vehicle population must be emission-free.

“We need the industry and the politicians to continue working on cutting emissions,” he said in a statement, adding he wants to see breaks for plug-in hybrids cutback also.

“A concrete step we believe the politicians should take already now is to remove the weight deduction for plug-in hybrids from 1 January. This is yesterday’s technology, which contributes to the fact that many car buyers still opt out of the zero-emission options,” he said.

As reported by Norwegian media, Hekneby also pointed to a report by the Institute for Transport Economics, which said 50 percent of the passenger car fleet could be electrified by 2036 if all current incentives are maintained.

Policy levers in place to encourage adoption of EVs in Norway include VAT exemption on electric cars. This is due to end on January 1, 2023 for EVs priced over 500,000 Kroner (just under $A97,000 converted).

Hekneby estimates that the goal of 50 percent e-vehicles in the fleet might not be reached until 2042 if this subsidy were to be dropped.

Currently, electric car sales account for almost 81% of Volkswagen’s new car sales in Norway – 6,900 of the 8,500 total. Most of these are the brand’s VW ID.4 electric SUV, which follows closely behind the Tesla Model Y in terms of popularity.

A look at the overall market shows that, at least in the case of new registrations, the step towards 100 percent new BEV passenger cars is getting closer. This year, electric cars accounted for well over 70 percent of new registrations in Norway.

As The Driven reported on Monday, Volkswagen has sold the highest number of ID.Buzz “electric Kombis” in Norway.