The car crisis reaches a new bottom: – Under severe pressure

(The online newspaper): The car crisis reached a new low point in November. 10,348 new passenger cars were registered, which is 9,162 fewer than in November 2022. This is a decrease of 47 per cent compared to last year’s November.

Not since passenger car sales were released in 1960 have so few new petrol cars been registered as so far this year.

– The figures tell two things very clearly: One is that new, clean petrol cars are about to be phased out in Norway. New diesel cars are going in the same direction. The second is that new car sales so far in 2023 show that people’s finances are under severe pressure as a result of sharp price increases and high interest rates, says director Øyvind Solberg Thorsen of the Road Traffic Information Council (OFV).

As Nettavisen wrote at the beginning of November, stock clearances, interest rate campaigns, super offers and car subscription services are almost fighting for attention. In October, there was a drop of 29 percent from the same month in 2022.

But expensive times and high interest rates mean that Norwegians do not allow themselves to be enticed. Norway’s two largest car importers, Møller and Bertel O. Steen, are experiencing the crisis deeply and are in the process of downsizing.

Personal finance affects

So far this year, 114,770 new passenger cars have been registered, 20,051, or 15 per cent fewer than in the same period in 2022.

– These days, most Norwegians clearly notice the strong price and interest rate increases. The effect of the interest rate increases is greater here than in Denmark and Sweden, because we have fixed interest rates to a lesser extent. It has a rapid effect on people’s finances and again on car sales, says Thorsen.

According to OFV, many people cancel or postpone the purchase of a new car. Many people keep the car they have for longer, or choose a used car.

Petrol and diesel cars are disappearing

So far this year, only 1,310 new passenger cars with pure petrol engines have been registered. These are figures that have not been seen since 1960, when the sale of passenger cars was released after being regulated.

In November, there were only 59 first-time registrations of new passenger cars with pure petrol engines. So far this year, new petrol cars make up only 1.1 per cent of all passenger car registrations.

– There is a clear trend that clean petrol and diesel cars are disappearing, a development that may have gone under the radar for most people. During 2023, there will be more than 25 percent electric cars in the passenger car fleet. The share of electric cars now makes up just over 83 per cent of new car sales, and that level seems to have stuck, says Thorsen.

Over the past 23 years, there have been one million fewer petrol cars in the passenger car fleet in Norway.

Here you can see the ten best-selling car brands in November.

Unusual November last year

Although there is a sharp decline in new car registrations now compared to the record-high years 2021 and 2022 – the current situation is more similar to “normal” years before this.

– In December last year, we had the highest number of registrations ever, with almost 40,000 new cars. Much of it was the delivery of cars that had been ordered a long time in advance. In addition, there was a rush to the car shops because VAT was to be introduced on electric cars and new increases in car taxes from the turn of the year, he says. If we go back to 2019, this year’s November figures are completely in line, says Thorsen.