The Norwegian car market is setting the European standard when it comes to incentivising the use of zero emission cars. As we discussed in the September issue, no VAT, reduced road tax, a 50% reduction in company car tax, access to bus lanes in the capital, Oslo and free public parking are all active incentives available to Norwegian electric vehicle drivers. Since 94% of Norway’s electricity is generated from renewable sources and just 2% from fossil fuels, the country is in a stronger position than many European countries to reduce CO2 emissions from cars.

The response has been very positive with nearly 18,000 EVs sold in 2013, with sales continuing to grow in 2014.

Where else would you see electric cars such as the Tesla model S and the Nissan LEAF among the country’s top five best selling cars? Even so, EVs still only account for just a small percentage of the 2.5 million cars on Norway’s roads.

The average age of used cars in Oslo is 8.0 years and in some places, such as in Oppland, one of the more rural counties of Norway to the north of Oslo, as high as 12.8 years. This compares with many EU countries where cars average 8.3 years in age, although Norway’s numbers are set to gradually fall as drivers opt to drive smaller more fuel-efficient cars.

Generally the current used market prefers lower mileage smaller cars with smaller engines, which offer better fuel economy and lower CO2. This move from older cars, plus the growth of EV sales supports the country’s aim to reduce its emissions and reduce motoring costs for car owners.

This increased the demand for small cars that are fairly new, with low CO2 emissions. Supported by a strong economy, this has led to more used vehicles being imported but volumes of exports still remain limited.

‘The Norwegian market is similar to Switzerland, in that it is not part of the EU and uses its own currency. This tends to cause challenges when exporting, which is why volumes are low,’ explained Autorola Norway’s country manager Brian Madsen.

‘By contrast, car imports are growing, particularly from other Scandinavian countries, as dealers try and satisfy the country’s demand for smaller, fairly new used cars with low CO2,’ he added.

Norway imports a number of used cars from its Eastern neighbour Sweden, which is the biggest new and used car market in Scandinavia. Many of these cars are bought through Autorola’s online remarketing platform.

‘Exporting cars from Norway just doesn’t work out as well as we would like due to the increased amount of paperwork generated because Norway is not a Eurozone country. However, we have been successful in exporting commercial vehicles, containers and plant online to other parts of Europe, particularly Germany and Holland.

‘Their higher value and more bespoke specification helps stimulate demand. With used cars we can see imports of smaller cars continuing to rise as Norwegian motorists switch onto the cost benefits of running a smaller and newer car,’ added Madsen.