May was an excellent month for passenger car registrations across the Nordics, with only Finland ending slightly down. Truck registrations, however, fell below last year’s level in all four markets.
With 15,560 new registrations, Norway recorded the strongest growth in May, finishing 9.1% above last year. Denmark followed with 19,092 registrations, up 6.4%. Sweden recorded 25,304 registrations, a 0.1% increase that left it essentially level with May 2025. Finland registered 6,785 cars, down 1%, just missing out on growth. Year to date, only Denmark is above its 2025 level, up 12.9%, although the other markets are close: Finland is down 0.4%, Sweden 2% and Norway 5.8%.
A clear direction for electric cars
May brought another month of growth for electric cars across the region. Norway continued its steady progress, with electric cars accounting for 97.8% of new registrations. Denmark set another record: electric cars made up 78.7% of all registrations and 95.8% in the private segment. In recent years, the share has moved consistently upwards in Norway and Denmark. Sweden and Finland have faced setbacks, with their shares at times in 2024 and 2025 falling below 2023 levels. Last month, however, both markets moved above their 2023 levels again. Electric cars accounted for 48.8% of registrations in Finland, a relative increase of 45.7%, and 42.4% in Sweden, up 13.1%. Andrée Peters, Director at Bilstatistik.se, has several thoughts on what is driving Sweden’s growth despite challenging conditions:
“Private customers are continuing to return to car dealerships, while businesses are choosing to wait. High fuel prices are probably one reason the share of electric cars is rising. In addition, more than 2,100 people were approved for the new electric car subsidy in May. It is unclear, however, how much of the subsidy went to new electric cars rather than used ones.”
Favourite models
The national top 10 lists look familiar, with each country having its own favourites. Volvo took four of the ten places in Sweden, while Toyota claimed half the places in Finland. Brand preferences are less pronounced in Denmark and Norway, but both markets put the Tesla Model Y in first place. In Norway, it led decisively, with more than four times as many registrations as the model in second place.
A mixed month for vans and trucks
May was a weak month for trucks, with all four markets ending slightly down. Finland saw the largest decline at 15.6%, followed by Norway at 12.9%, Denmark at 9.1% and Sweden at 2.1%. However, total registrations year to date are more or less at 2025 levels in all four markets. Vans performed somewhat better: only Denmark ended with a decline, down 7.7%. Sweden was up 21.7%, Norway up 9.4%, and Finland recorded modest growth of 0.5%.
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)