BYD stock continues to gain momentum in Norway.
Here’s why …
This past weekend, I came across an interesting data point: Before the end of this month, there will be more electric cars on the roads in Norway than internal combustion vehicles.
This is a huge deal, and great news for a country that has been seeking to end sales of new internal combustion vehicles by the end of next year. Worth noting: last month, EV sales in the land of the Midnight Sun, comprised 94% of the auto market. This is massive!
Although to be fair, this is largely due to a lot of very generous government support and incentives that have been in place, in some instances, for nearly 35 years. These include …
- No purchase / import tax on EVs from 1990-2022
- Exemption from a 25% VAT on purchases from 2001 to 2022. In 2023, a 25% VAT returned, but only on EVs with purchase prices in excess of $46,000, which really isn’t that much for an electric car.
- No annual road tax from 1996 to 2021
- No charges on toll roads from1997 to 2017
- Free municipal parking from 1999 to 2017
- Exemption from 25% VAT on leasing
It’s interesting to note that some of these incentives have been gone for nearly 8 years now, yet aside from a small dip at the end of 2022, EV sales in Norway have continued to climb, while sales of internal combustion vehicles have been falling since 2019.
Hyundai actually stopped selling internal combustion vehicles in Norway last year. Think about that for a moment. The third largest carmaker in the world (in terms of production), has dumped internal combustion altogether in Norway.
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, Norway is a small country, with a population of less than 6 million people. That’s about 2 million less inhabitants than New York City. Still, with EVs on the verge of becoming the primary form of personal transportation in Norway, this puts to rest some of the more absurd arguments against EV adoption. In particular, “nobody wants them,” and “EVs don’t work in cold weather.” The latter has always been a bone of contention with me.
You see, in the winter months, there are some parts of Norway that don’t go above freezing. Much like the weather here in upstate NY, where I live. And indeed, the range of my Tesla is absolutely affected by extreme cold temperatures.
On a full charge, I get about 320 miles. Last year, when I had to drive to Albany, which is about 150 miles away, I arrived (after topping off my battery at 318 miles), with only about 100 miles of range left. That’s a big drop. Yet I still had plenty of range remaining. And when I arrived, I “re-fueled” for about half what it would’ve cost me with a gas-powered car. The temperature that day, by the way, didn’t go above 9 degrees Fahrenheit.
So yes, the more reliable EVs have no problem operating in cold weather.
Now in Norway, the top selling EV brands this year have been …
- Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
- Hyundai (OTCBB: HYMTF)
- Nissan (OTCBB: NSANY)
- Volkswagen (OTCBB: VWAGY)
- Volvo (OTCBB: GELYF)
- Toyota (NYSE: TM)
BYD Stock Valuation Increases on Norway Sales Data
I should also point out that with a number of Chinese EV companies rapidly expanding, it’s not unlikely that this list could potentially include one or two of those Chinese companies in the coming years.
You see, Norway isn’t an EU member state, so it doesn’t have to abide by any EU tariffs on Chinese EVs. As well, the government doesn’t seem keen on doing that anyway. Today, there are three notable Chinese EV manufacturers selling EVs in Norway: Volvo (which is owned by Chinese automaker Geely), NIO (NYSE: NIO), and BYD (OTCBB: BYDDY). And they’ve rapidly increased market share from 14% in 2023 to 23% in August, 2024. NIO saw its sales shoot up by nearly 50% and BYD has tripled sales in Norway.
On the low-end, I believe Chinese EVs will command 30% of the Norway market by the end of 2025, with BYD being the dominant force.
In terms of Chinese EV stocks, I maintain that BYD is your most reliable bet today.
