August was a broadly strong month for car sales across the Nordic region. Finland recorded its strongest passenger car growth in several years, while Denmark saw its highest August sales since 2020.
The final month of summer was a solid one for Nordic car sales. Passenger cars recorded the strongest growth in Finland, where a much-needed increase of 26.2% brought the month to 6,642 new registrations. Denmark also had reason to be pleased: 16,165 newly registered passenger cars, up 24.1%, marked the country’s highest August total in six years. In Sweden, the largest Nordic market, we have to go back three years to find an August that surpassed 2026. With 22,156 new registrations, Sweden was 11.6% above the 2025 level. Norway, by contrast, saw a small decline of 3.4%.
Historically high electric car shares
Electric car shares also remained at (historically) high levels. After several years of instability in Sweden, August was the first time electric car shares reached such high levels across all four markets.
Norway remains far ahead, with electric cars accounting for 98.7% of new registrations. Of the 13,274 electric cars registered, just 64 were diesel and 30 were petrol. Denmark followed with a share of 85.9%, Finland with 51.6%, and Sweden with 45.5%. Developments in Sweden will be especially interesting to follow, as a subsidy scheme is due to end and an election is approaching. Andrée Peters of Bilstatistik.se explains:
“The temporary tax reduction on petrol and diesel, which has meant that Sweden has had the lowest fuel prices in Europe, expires in November. Sweden is also going to the polls on 13 September, so it will be interesting to see what the next government decides to do in this area and how that may affect car sales going forward.”
Could Denmark overtake Norway in something that rhymes with electric?
Electric cars are making particularly strong inroads into Denmark’s vehicle fleet. In just one year, their share of the fleet increased by 45.6% to 23.5%. This growth reflects not only high new-registration levels, but also the scrapping or export of many conventional cars. Norway still has the highest electric car share in its fleet, at 34.9%, but growth has been slower (+15.7% in a year). Denmark may therefore overtake Norway in this area in the coming years. The fact that new electric cars alone cannot quickly change the fleet is also a point of attention for Geir Inge Stokke, CEO of Norway’s OFV:
“In August, Norway set a new record with electric cars accounting for 98.7% of new car registrations. The Norwegian new car market is now, in practice, fully electric. If emissions from the passenger car fleet are to be reduced further, it is becoming increasingly important to speed up the replacement of older petrol and diesel cars,” says Stokke.
Growth is also rapid in Sweden and Finland, though from lower starting points. After a year-on-year increase of 21.4%, Sweden’s electric car share of the fleet is now 9.6%. Finland’s share has reached 7.3%, following growth of 36.2% over the year.
Volatile model rankings – but national favourites
August brought further changes to the national model rankings. Campaigns and general availability affect the lists from month to month, yet national preferences often show through, especially in Sweden and Finland. Volvo took both first and second place in Sweden, while Toyota claimed every place in Finland’s top five. Apart from BMW and its iX5, Toyota was also the only brand represented in the top 10 lists in all four markets.
A solid month for vans
New van registrations also made for a reasonable end to the summer. Sweden recorded 3,145 new vans, up 26.1%, making it the strongest market in August compared with the same month last year. Denmark and Norway ended the month up 12% and 10.6%, respectively. Finland’s long-awaited success in passenger car registrations was not repeated in the van market. Registrations fell 17.9% in August, reflecting a business market that remains cautious and is holding back on investment. Teemu Rennola, CEO of Finland’s Value Clinic, describes it plainly as:
“a market where it is currently difficult to find anything positive to highlight.”
For the year as a whole, Finland is 12.8% below last year’s already low level. Sweden is at the other end of the scale, up 20.3%. August was weak for new truck registrations (Denmark, for example, was down 29.6% year on year), but all markets are more or less holding their year-to-date levels. Norway has the largest positive change, at +2.8%, while Denmark is currently at -3%.
Sharing data
Figures and data from this article may only be shared with the following source references:
Danish data: Bilstatistik.dk
Swedish data: Bilstatistik.se
Norwegian data: Opplysningsrådet for veitrafikken (OFV)
Finnish data: Value Clinic (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, Transport Register)