Nettavisen recently wrote that car sales seem to be largely saved by Volvo’s new small car.
And now the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) confirms that there was a significant increase in new cars on Norwegian roads in April.
New car sales have been very sluggish so far this year, and in March the number of registrations was halved compared to the same month last year. But in April the pace of new car sales increased, and 11,241 new passenger cars were registered. That is 25 per cent more than in April 2023, they write in a press release.
– April is often a month where there is more speed in new car sales. But the situation this year has been different to the last couple, three years where there has been a very long delivery time for new cars. This year, many car models have been available straight from warehouses and dealers, says director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen of the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV).
So far this year, the figures are still poor, with a decrease of 11 per cent in total.
Want cheap cars
According to OFV, the rise is connected to active campaign activities.
– There have been particularly new and very popular electric car models in Norway. And good incentives, low interest rates and favorable financing options for the purchase of a new car gave new car sales a high speed. Now a lot has been turned upside down, and people have a more strained economy, says Solberg Thorsen.
There is a lot of promotional activity at the moment, but we want different cars than before:
– We now show greater moderation and buy smaller and more affordable new cars. It is still especially SUVs with four-wheel drive that most people want. But the big, expensive cars have to a greater extent give way to smaller SUVs in the middle and compact class, he says.
These are the most popular
April was the month when Tesla was really pushed down from the throne, after a longer period of campaigning. At the same time, Volvo has received the first large delivery of the compact SUV EX30.
Volkswagen has also gained momentum in the delivery of its models, after being quite absent from the top lists so far this year.
