Premium EV maker Polestar saw its Norwegian sales plunge to 63 units in January, data released by the national Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) showed on Monday.
Sales dropped by 66.7% from the 189 units recorded exactly a year ago.
Sequentially, the company witnessed an even larger sales collapse (-91.8%) from the 766 vehicles recorded in December.
In the neighboring Sweden, Polestar also saw a year over year decrease in sales, but to a lesser extent – nearly 5% to 450 EVs.
According to the vehicle registration data platform EU-EVs, the brand’s sales in the Danish market fell 31.7% year-on-year to 95 units.
Norway 2025 Sales
Back in 2019, Polestar entered the Norwegian market, with the opening of the first Polestar Space store in its capital Oslo.
In the country, the EV maker delivered a total of 3,989 vehicles last year, nearly doubling from 2024’s 2,089 registrations.
June 2025 delivered the highest yearly results for the brand, achieving 774 units.
It was followed closely by December, with a total of 766 vehicles.
EV Adoption
Latest data from OVF showed that Norway registered 2,218 new passenger cars last month.
Compared with 9,343 units recorded a year ago, figures dropped by 76.3%.
Zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) accounted for 2,084 registrations last month.
Sales of ZEVs stood at 94.0% — slightly lower than a year ago — when it reached 95.8%.
A total of 29 hybrid vehicles were registered, including plug-in hybrids (PHEV), resulting in a 1.3% market share.
The slump in passenger car sales, across all powertrains, follows the reduction of the VAT exemption threshold for electric vehicles from 500,000 Norwegian kroner ($51,500) to 300,000 Norwegian kroner ($30,900), which started in the first day of 2026.
Therefore, any electric vehicles priced above the 300,000-Norwegian kroner limit are subject to 25% VAT.
Originally scheduled for next year, the elimination of the VAT exemption has been postponed to 2028.
Best-Sellers in Norway
Delivering 441 vehicles last month, Volkswagen ranked first in Norwegian sales again, after the US giant Tesla had assumed this position since last June.
However, the German automaker’s sales declined by 76.8% compared to 2024.
Its ID.3 compacy hatchback was the best-selling EV model in the Norwegian market.
Toyota was the second largest brand in the country, with 295 vehicles.
The Japanese automotive company saw its bZ4X and Urban Cruiser models rise to the second (184 units) and third positions (98 vehicles), respectively.
The Volkswagen Group‘s brand Skoda ranked third, delivering 127 units.
Tesla registered 83 EVs, slumping by 88.0% from the 5,679 deliveries in January 2025.
January 2026 figures marked the worst result in Norway for the Elon Musk-led company in the last three years.
BYD, XPeng, and Nio all witnessed their sales fall by over 70% year-on-year.
The Shenzen-based company sold only 50 units in the country, while XPeng followed closely behind with just 40 deliveries.
Polestar’s 2025 Performance
In 2025, Polestar sold a total of 60,119 fully electric vehicles across all its markets, 46,479 of which were in Europe.
Therefore, 77.3% of all the brand’s registrations occurred in the Old Continent.
The figures rose 34.0% from the 44,851 units recorded throughout 2024.
Last month, the Geely-backed automaker’s CEO Michael Lohscheller highlighted the sales growth as a key milestone for the company amid a challenging market environment.
“For retail sales volumes, 2025 has been the best year ever for Polestar, despite continued external headwinds and challenging market conditions,” the executive stated.
“We are gaining market share and outselling many established car brands across key European markets, a testament to the expansion of our sales network, which has grown by over 50% this year, our attractive model line-up and the team’s hard work,” Lohscheller added.
Expansion in 2025 and Beyond
Last year, Polestar focused on growing its presence in the region which continues leading its sales: Europe.
The company entered the French, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian and Polish markets, taking its footprint to 15 countries in the Old Continent.
The premium EV maker also expanded into Thailand and Brazil in 2025.
Polestar plans to expand its European retail footprint to more than 180 locations by next year, while it aims to grow its presence globally by 75% by the end of this year.
New Models
Debuted at last September’s IAA Munich, the Polestar 5 grand tourer is set to start being delivered in the first half of the year depending on the market.
The company also plans to release the updated Polestar 2, 3 and 4 models.
After unveiling it in Los Angeles in 2022, the EV maker announced last year that the Polestar 6 model’s launch would be delayed until 2027.
Meanwhile, a coupé SUV, named Polestar 7, is set to debut in 2028, according to the brand.
