Electric cars accounted for a 44.3% share of Norway’s new car sales in January, rising year on year but falling short of the 50-60% range the industry forecast for 2020, data from the Norwegian Road Federation show. In January 2019 electric cars made up 37.8% of sales in the Nordic country and climbed in subsequent months to an overall 42.4% market share for the full year. As it seeks to phase out the sale of combustion-engine cars by the middle of this decade, oil-producer Norway has exempted battery-powered vehicles from taxes imposed on those running on petrol and diesel. As a result of the policy, Norway has the world’s highest rate of electric vehicle use. In January, German auto maker Audi’s fully-electric e-tron sports utility vehicle was Norway’s top-selling car for the second time in four months, hitting a market share of 9.4%, registration data showed.
- Reuters -