The GreenCarWebsite reports on the reign of the electric car remains strong in the key European market of Norway, where the Nissan LEAF was the best-selling car of October.
Nissan’s first fully electric supermini claimed an incredible 6 per cent of the total passenger vehicle market in the country last month. Revised and refreshed earlier this year, the LEAF has consistently performed well in Norway, where electric car sales are the strongest in Europe.
Looking at car sales in the country so far this year (from January to October) the LEAF is the fourth best seller overall, taking 3 per cent of the market, even taking into account sales of traditional combustion cars. When the new LEAF launched in April, Nissan managed to secure a second best seller place for its electric model in Norway that month, but has since witnessed sales soar, as Norwegians take to the new version which boasts more legroom, more bootspace and quicker recharging times.
Despite having a tiny population under 5 million, Norway bought more electric cars last year than any other country in Europe and per capita, leads the world in the adoption of electric cars.
There are several reasons why electric cars are so popular there, firstly and perhaps most significantly, electric cars are exempt from import taxes, which bump up the prices of combustion cars, and make electric cars much more affordable. Other perks in Norway include free parking, exemption from congestion charging and permission to travel in bus lanes in the capital Oslo.
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Nissan Europe Director of Electric Vehicles, comments: "We have had incredibly strong sales this year in Norway and with the introduction of the new Nissan LEAF in the middle of 2013, we have seen that level not just maintained, but exceeded. To get the number one spot is an extraordinary sales performance, even for the world's best selling electric car, but to be number four in the charts for 2013 so far is something we are incredibly proud of. We continue to be successful in the main Norwegian cities, but the majority of our growth is coming from rural areas, which shows is the breadth of the Nissan LEAF's appeal."
Back in September, we reported how it was the newly-launchedTesla Model S which managed to steal the top sale spot in the country, taking a 6.2 per cent share of the market in its first two weeks on sale there.
