The first quarter ended strongly across the Nordics. All four markets recorded growth in passenger car registrations in March, and electric car shares rose everywhere, including a new monthly record.
March was an excellent month for passenger car registrations across the Nordics. Norway recorded the strongest growth, up 33% from March 2025 with 17,685 new registrations. Denmark followed, up nearly 27% with 18,968 new cars. Finland also saw much-needed growth after a long period of weak registrations: 6,792 new cars put it 10% above last March. Sweden had a strong month too, registering 26,048 passenger cars, up 9% year on year.
Year to date, these March results leave Denmark 16.8% above the first quarter of 2025 and Finland up 3%, while Sweden and Norway are down 3.1% and 14%, respectively.
Tesla makes a comeback
Tesla Model Y is back in the lead in Sweden, Norway and Finland. In Denmark it took second place behind the popular Škoda Elroq. Tesla Model 3 also appears in the Nordic top 10 lists, except in Sweden. Norway’s Tesla results are especially striking: the first-placed Model Y and second-placed Model 3 sold more than 1,300 cars more than all the other top 10 models combined.
Beyond Tesla, the four markets continue to have their own model preferences.
Electric cars gain ground in registrations and vehicle fleets
Electric car shares rose in all four markets again in March. Unlike the other Nordic countries, Sweden has seen an uneven pattern rather than steady month-by-month growth. In 2026, however, the trend has been consistently positive. Sweden’s electric car share reached 41.8% in March, up 19% on last year. Andrée Peters, Director of Bilstatistik.se, explains one possible reason:
“Rising diesel and petrol prices—up 45% and 26%, respectively, since February—are encouraging more people to choose electric cars. The same trend is visible in the used-car market. A new government support scheme to encourage rural residents and lower-income groups to buy new or used electric cars opened for applications on 18 March. It received 3,482 applications that month. It is unclear how many were for new or used cars, but the scheme very likely contributed to March’s new registrations and will continue to do so.”
Unsurprisingly, Norway still has the highest electric car share in new sales. In March it reached 98.4%, equal to 17,406 new electric car registrations. By comparison, just 22 pure petrol cars were registered in the same period. This was the highest electric car share ever recorded in a single month.
Denmark is accelerating too: 77.1% of new registrations were electric, compared with 65.8% in March last year. Among private buyers alone, the share reached an impressive 95% in the first quarter.
Finland has not reached quite the same level, but its share continues to rise. It reached 49.7% in March, up 26.1% from a year earlier.
Although all four countries are moving in a greener direction, they are doing so at very different speeds and under different conditions. Jonathan Schacht Halling Nielsen, Deputy Director of Mobility Denmark, says:
“Electric cars are gaining a firmer foothold across the Nordics, but the levels differ greatly. Norway and Denmark remain far ahead of Sweden and Finland, reflecting the political conditions in each country. This underlines the importance of making the greener choice attractive if progress is to continue.”
Norway’s OFV shares this view, particularly at a time when geopolitical uncertainty is putting pressure on business customers. CEO Geir Inge Stokke says:
“Fuel costs, interest rates and the wider economy will strongly influence the choices consumers and businesses make in the months ahead. This is particularly true for businesses, many of which still rely on fossil fuels and drive long distances, making cost increases especially noticeable. Predictable policy that supports the transition is therefore essential.”
Mixed results for heavy vehicles
Despite geopolitical uncertainty, the first quarter ended with truck registrations up in all four markets. Norway fell 17% in March, but strong monthly results in Sweden (+37%), Denmark (+28%) and Finland (+11%) helped every country finish the quarter above last year. Denmark’s truck registrations were up 15.2% for the quarter; Norway was up 6.6%, Finland 3.8% and Sweden 3.5%.
The picture for vans was more varied. Denmark and Sweden recorded growth both in March and across the quarter, while Finland and Norway remained below last year for both periods. Swedish van registrations rose 29.3% in March and 15.3% for the full quarter. Denmark grew 16.9% in March and 7.7% across the quarter.
Norway recorded the steepest decline: 26.7% for March and 27.2% for the quarter. Finnish van sales were also affected, falling 14.4% in March and 15.7% for the quarter.
As in Norway, Teemu Rennola, CEO of Finland’s Value Clinic, points to geopolitical uncertainty as an important factor behind the difficult van market:
“Developments in the car market at the start of the year point to a gradual return of consumer confidence. Yet the global economy—including geopolitical crises and their effect on oil prices—creates uncertainty about what lies ahead. The sharp fall in light commercial vehicle sales reflects a challenging operating environment for businesses: investment decisions are being postponed, and cost pressures are weighing more heavily on purchasing decisions than before.”
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)