In 2025, Norway moved closer to its goal of selling only zero-emission vehicles, with fully electric cars making up 95.9% of all new cars sold.
Norway, which is also the largest exporter of hydrocarbons in Western Europe, has set a non-binding target for all new cars sold from 2025 onwards to be zero-emission. This is ten years ahead of the deadline set by the European Union in this area.
In total, 179,549 new passenger cars were registered in 2025, breaking the record set in 2021, according to an announcement made on Friday. In December alone, the share of electric vehicles reached 97.6%.
Reasons for the rush to buy an electric car before the end of 2025
A statement noted: “The end of the year was unprecedentedly strong. There is no doubt that the changes to the value-added tax, effective from January 1, 2026, prompted many to buy an electric car before the end of the year.”
The government decided to lower the price threshold for subjecting new electric vehicles to value-added tax from 500,000 kroner (42,500 euros) to 300,000. The complete abolition of this tax, which was planned for 2027, is now expected to be postponed to 2028.
Tesla strengthened its position at the top of the Norwegian electric vehicle market last year, with approximately 19.1% of the new car sales market. A record number (34,285) of cars from the company owned by Elon Musk were purchased.
The year 2025 proved that Chinese manufacturers have also gained a foothold in the Norwegian new car market, with sales accounting for 13.7% of new vehicles compared to 10.4% in 2024.
