Electric car, Volvo | Cheap Volvo saves Norway from ragnarok:

Electric car, Volvo | Cheap Volvo saves Norway from ragnarok: – This makes it attractive

Ragnarok has long been predicted in car sales this year. The most pessimistic believe that fewer than 100,000 cars will be delivered. By comparison, over 170,000 cars were delivered in 2022.

The message that recently came from Statistics Norway cannot be described as anything other than dramatic:

– The value of car imports rose from February to March, corresponding to an increase of almost 50 per cent. Compared to March 2023, there is still a reduction of 46.8 per cent, they wrote.

Newcomers save the market almost single-handedly

It seemed for a long time that April would also see a significant decrease from last year, although this year it was almost unaffected by Easter

But figures from Elbilstatistikk on Friday show that last year’s April has already been beaten by around 10 per cent, even though there are almost three whole days left of the month in which cars can be registered.

And we find the main explanation for that in the fact that Volvo has really speeded up deliveries of its new mini-SUV EX30. This happens at the same time that the Tesla Model Y has fallen to 3rd place, after topping the statistics for a long time.

Test: Volvo EX30

The newcomer from Volvo is developed and manufactured by the parent company Geely in China, but the Swedes have been allowed to make modifications to make it their own.

And the success lies in the fact that you can get it delivered with winter wheels for under NOK 360,000.

You do get rear-wheel drive and a small battery with a stated range of 337 kilometres. You can also choose a larger battery – and four-wheel drive.

– Attractive in a car market that has become a bit tired

Volvo’s communications manager Erik Trosby believes he knows why the car has been such a hit:

– The EX30 has been very well received ever since we showed it off last year, and it is gratifying to see that it is now resulting in good sales. We believe the combination of Volvo’s brand, together with the car’s price and features, makes it attractive in a car market that has been a bit tired in the past year, says Trosby to Nettavisen.

– Sales have been very good ever since we presented the car, so we expect it to be high on the registration statistics throughout 2024.

Affordable cars dominate

The rest of the bestseller list in April is also dominated by more affordable models.

Of the 30 most registered cars, we only find a couple of cars that would normally be close to a million kroner with extra equipment.

Among other things, we see that Honda’s electric car e: Ny1 has crept into the top 10 list after they cut the price by well over NOK 100,000. MG and Hyundai continue to do well with their interest campaigns on the MG4 and Kona.

Read also: Dumps the price of the Honda e: Ny1 after sales flop

Top 15 best-selling electric cars 1–26 April