Electric cars were the largest group in Norway's used-car market for the second month running in October 2026, and the Tesla Model Y was the most-traded used electric car, according to the road traffic information council OFV. Of 47,199 passenger cars that changed owners in October, 17,458, or 37%, were electric, 22.4% more than in October 2025. Only the Volkswagen Golf changed hands more often than the Model Y.
September was the first month in which electric cars led, with 35.7% of transfers. Until August, diesel was the largest fuel type every month except February, which internal transfers at the bank DNB distorted.
The October numbers
| Norway, October 2026 | Changes of ownership | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| Electric | 17,458 | +22.4% |
| Diesel | 14,848 | −14.4% |
| Petrol | 9,778 | −10.2% |
| Plug-in petrol hybrid | 2,991 | −19.0% |
| All passenger cars | 47,199 | −2.7% |
OFV did not break out the remaining fuel types. Private buyers took 45,052 of the cars, and among them the electric share was 36.9%, against 31.3% for diesel.
Where Tesla stands
| Most-traded used cars, October 2026 | Changes of ownership | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Volkswagen Golf, all variants | 2,060 | −3.5% |
| 2. Tesla Model Y | 1,169 | +23.1% |
| 3. Nissan Leaf | 929 | not given |
| 4. Tesla Model 3 | 915 | not given |
Four of the ten most-traded used cars were electric: the two Teslas, the Leaf and the Volkswagen ID.4. The Golf figure includes the electric e-Golf and the Golf GTE plug-in hybrid.
Over the year, the Model Y has overtaken the Model 3. From January to October, 9,333 used Model Ys changed owners, against 7,865 Model 3s, and the Model Y has led the pair in every month since February. A year earlier the order was reversed, 7,327 Model 3s to 6,235 Model Ys. Only the Golf, at 18,853, has been traded more often in 2026; the BMW 3 Series is third at 8,465.
By brand, Volkswagen led October with 6,245 transfers, ahead of Toyota on 4,884 and BMW on 4,052. Tesla grew fastest of the ten largest brands, by 8.7% in the month and by 21% for the year to 20,884, while Volvo fell most, by 13.4%. Chinese brands are growing from a small base: MG rose 75.4% to 556, BYD 21.8% to 207 and XPeng 49.0% to 152.
Read the year-to-date figures with care
OFV counts 458,304 changes of ownership so far in 2026, up 5.1%, but 20,390 of them were mainly internal transfers at DNB, most of them electric cars. Without those, the total is flat on last year, electric transfers are up about 20%, and diesel is still the largest fuel type for the year.
What it means
OFV's chief executive Geir Inge Stokke said the electric cars sold new a few years ago are now reaching the used market in full, and that October shows the electric car has become an ordinary used car. On the new-car side, Tesla registered 1,548 cars in Norway in October, 55 more than Toyota, and OFV found in October that 72.8% of Norway's Tesla owners who bought a new car chose another Tesla.
The fleet still runs mostly on fuel. Seven in ten cars on Norwegian roads have a combustion engine. The fleet's average age is 11.6 years, and OFV forecasts 14.9 years by 2040. It has asked the Storting to raise the scrappage payment from NOK 3,000, unchanged since 2013, to NOK 10,000 in the 2027 budget.
For buyers, the Model Y now has the largest used market of any electric car in Norway, so choice should keep growing as more of the cars sold new in recent years come up for resale.