Tesla, electric car | Tesla's dominance in Norway has become quite astonishing

There have never been more car brands to choose from in Norway. However, there is one car brand that is more dominant than ever.

Last year, Tesla did something no one had done recently: it captured 20% of the total market in Norway. So far this year, they have a market share of about 25 percent.

The dominance has been particularly fierce so far in February: several Model Ys have registered as the top 10 electric passenger cars combined.

Part of the reason is that Tesla did what it did last year: It started the year by tightening the price war. This is despite their German factory being closed for two weeks.

This has prompted other brands to jump into the campaign trail.

Total domination

It's not just in Norway that Tesla is doing well. It was the Model Y The best-selling car in Europe last year. And in all over the world.

This dominance comes at a time when many traditional competitors are reducing their investments in electric cars.

In the United States, demand for electric cars has fallen sharply, as have major manufacturers there Poetry mini for him Electric car investment.

Volkswagen – which owns brands such as Skoda, Audi and Cupra – flatly says they are She can no longer compete. Toyota, which has been among the most conservative companies regarding electric cars, He is now an international winnerAlthough they are also announcing more electric models in the future.

For his part, Tesla CEO Elon Musk seems to only see challenges from the side Chinese manufacturers. In contrast, he refers to Chinese competition as almost perfect.

– Kodak moment

Christina Poe is a leader in the Electric Vehicle Association, and she has somewhat mixed feelings about Tesla's growing dominance.

– On the one hand, thisKodak moment“At the same time, it is also an expected development,” says Bo.

The expression has a double meaning.

• A moment worth remembering for the future.
• A situation in which an existing company is unable to keep up with developments and becomes irrelevant to technological development

– For a long time it was about small innovations and gradual development in the global automobile industry – now a lot is happening at once. The company that has been in the driver's seat for a long time, with important innovations, is precisely Tesla. They're winning now, a few years after a number of established manufacturers ignored what they were doing. Therefore, Tesla should take a lot of credit for making electric cars more competitive and attractive, Bo says.

– I hope competition from the traditional auto industry will increase, as it is rarely good in the long run if one or a few players have significant market power. At the same time, it is clear that Tesla stands to gain more in terms of profit margins per electric vehicle sold compared to established manufacturers. It's a danger signal to competition, says Poe.

I thought otherwise

An important reason for Tesla's success, according to Bo, is not only that it pursues models, but that Tesla has a more efficient way of selling cars. Tesla has control over the entire value chain from production to sales, service and shipping.

You can count the number of Tesla dealers in Oslo compared to the number of VW importer Møller. This now also has consequences.

– On the one hand, it's about technology, but it's also about a more competitive sales model. In addition, the so-called “vertical integration” in the value chain associated with battery production. Norway is currently where the results of all this are most evident, but electrification is now gaining momentum globally.

I think Europe needs to think differently

The big challenge facing European car manufacturers is their lack of control over the most important components of electric cars.

At the same time, China has complete dominance in the world's battery production Almost complete control of rare earth processing. This constitutes a strategic challenge that the European Union now considers one of its major challenges.

The European automobile industry needs help through large-scale investment in mineral extraction and battery production in Europe. Today, China's control over much of its extraction and production operations poses a major challenge.

– I hope that Europe can compete with China and the United States to a greater extent when it comes to battery production. She concludes that in order to achieve this, there must be help from the authorities as well.