Chinese-owned car brands are gaining a growing share of Norway’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, even as more Norwegian drivers express concerns about buying vehicles from Chinese manufacturers.
Electric cars accounted for 97.8% of new car registrations in Norway during the first eight months of 2026, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. The country remains the world’s leading market for electric vehicle adoption and is far ahead of the European Union, where electric cars represented 21.7% of new registrations between January and August, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
About one in four new electric vehicles registered in Norway this year came from Chinese brands or companies with Chinese ownership. Manufacturers such as BYD, NIO and Dongfeng, along with Chinese-owned brands including Volvo and Polestar, accounted for about 25% of new EV registrations during the first half of the year.
Their presence has expanded rapidly. Chinese brands were almost absent from Norway’s car market in 2019, but have since become one of the largest groups by ownership origin.
A survey conducted by the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association between March 31 and May 3 found that 31% of nearly 15,000 EV owners questioned would avoid buying a Chinese brand for political reasons. That compared with 23% in the previous year’s survey.
“New cars are, in practice, computers on wheels,” association Secretary General Christina Bu said.
She said greater attention to data security and privacy was making consumers more conscious of where vehicles come from and how information collected by them is handled.
Norwegian security researchers previously found that a vehicle produced by Chinese manufacturer NIO was transmitting data to China. Separate testing of a Yutong bus found that the manufacturer had access to its control system, raising concerns about whether such vehicles could potentially be disabled remotely.
Despite these concerns, Chinese-owned manufacturers continue to attract buyers. Bu said consumers consider several factors when purchasing vehicles, including price, technology, data security and ethical concerns.
An earlier association report suggested Chinese-owned brands could overtake European manufacturers in Norway as soon as 2027 if current trends continue.
Chinese manufacturers are also expanding across the EU. Registrations among five groups featuring Chinese brands rose about 71% in August from a year earlier, while their combined share of the new-car market increased from 6.6% to 10.8%.
Leapmotor registrations rose 211%, Chery increased 201%, BYD climbed 129% and Geely Group grew 24%.
Meanwhile, political resistance to Tesla among Norwegian consumers has declined. The survey found that 24% would avoid Tesla for political reasons, down from 43% last year.
Bu attributed the change partly to reduced attention surrounding Tesla chief executive Elon Musk’s political activities. Tesla nevertheless remained Norway’s best-selling new-car brand, with a 17.5% registration share through September 24.
