With Tesla at its lead, the global auto world has changed through the success of Elon Musk’s company.

In terms of EV-market share, there is no company in the world today as transformative for Norway or in the world of electric mobility as a whole as Tesla.

Tesla has helped to redefine consumer preferences and market perceptions through a shift in demand patterns.

In many ways, it has become a real game-changer for Norway, influencing both government policy and industry practices.

Norway has transformed into the cradle of EVs on a global scale.

Experts say that Tesla has put Norway in a leading position in the EV race.

This article highlights the function of the company in the electromobility transition in Norway, the dynamics of its sales success on the Norwegian market, the consequences for the future of the EV industry, and the direction of global decarbonisation.

Tesla – First Drop in Quarterly Deliveries

Tesla (TSLA.O) recorded its first drop in quarterly deliveries in nearly four years and missed Wall Street’s expectations. That again indicates the company’s previous price cuts are losing their influence.

The share price slipped by 5.7% early in the trading session, and for the year it is down close to 30%.

Around 386,810 vehicles were delivered in the quarter ending March 31, the company said.

That represented a 20.2% decrease from the prior quarter and 433,371 vehicles produced. On average, analysts had expected the company to deliver 454,200 vehicles.

Compared with 454,385 delivered in the same quarter last year, deliveries fell 8.5% and marked the first sales slide since the second quarter of 2020, which was when the world was mostly shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a spate of halts in production.

Production was reduced as Tesla’s Fremont facility prepared for increased Model 3 production.

The company closed its Berlin facilities for production because logistics chains were challenged by the conflict in the Red Sea.

In the US, Tesla is now facing major competition from the domestic automaker Ford.

Tesla Faces China Competition

In China, however, Tesla faces major competition from BYD and other local firms.

BYD recently overtook Tesla to become the number one EV seller. In addition, Tesla is now facing competition from new Chinese entrants, such as Xiaomi.

Tesla still outpaced BYD in the quarter, delivering more cars.

Tesla’s deliveries totaled 369,783 units of the Model 3 and Model Y and approximately 17,000 units of its other models.

Elon Musk’s firm also warned sales growth this year will ‘be meaningfully lower than last year, as we do so’.

The wealthy world is swelling.

Prior to this year, there was scant precedent for personal financial fortunes that exceeded the trillion-dollar mark and passed a mere round number into the ‘Centibillionaire Club’.

Since 2020, the club’s membership has surged from one to 14.

This year’s crop of billionaires is growing in an environment of unprecedented personal financial winnings. Historically speaking, the fortune club is taking on new and rampant dimensions.

For the most part, their vast fortunes have been created on the back of technological developments that have revolutionised our lives and far outweighed the fortunes previously amassed by billionaires.

Technology is now at the forefront of generating unprecedented fortunes.

Tesla Slowing Sales in USA

Alongside an apparent market shift in Western consumer attitudes, Tesla appears to be showing signs of slowing sales in the US, in part due to CEO Elon Musk, who often says things that are controversial and political and don’t make his company look as good.

Many media outlets over the past year have observed Tesla’s dramatic growth, fuelled by some aggressive pricing strategies.

But if the quarterly stats are anything to go by, we could now be about to see a slowdown in sales, according to a dip in one of the consumer research specialists YouGov’s latest market surveys.

Consideration for Tesla dropped off sharply, with only a slight increase in consideration for the other brands.

Experts suggest the push into right-wing politics from Musk and the controversies that entail are hurting Tesla’s brand and demand.

They cite things like high-interest rates, lack of new cheap models, and more competition as a headwind.

Wide data suggests that electric vehicle sales in the US will take a spin-up overall, but that Tesla will see much slower growth, all of which suggests that Tesla’s slowdown could be a drag on the EV market overall.

Tesla and others are discovering that the fastest route to growth in this changing automotive landscape is to market to people new to cars – people who see the world differently than their parents or even their grandparents did when they first went shopping for a car.

But this politicization also carries with it the added cost of market-fragmentation and the opportunity for competitors.

Tesla Hikes Prices

On Monday, Tesla (TSLA.O) hiked prices across the entire US line of Model Y electric SUVS, raising the cost of all versions $1,000, according to an online listing.

The standard range for the Model Y, once listed at $39,990 across the board, now lists at $44,990.

The Long Range version jumps to $49,990, and the Performance to $53,490. Back in March, Tesla said the prices of all Model Y vehicles in the US would increase starting on 1 April.

Sales of the No 1 Chinese EV maker, BYD, fell by 43% in the first quarter of 2024 from the previous one, ending the first quarter last behind Tesla, which the Chinese automaker overtook to become the world’s No 1 EV seller in 2022.

China’s BYD in Focus

Last month, BYD announced to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that it had sold 300,114 EVs in the first quarter of 2024 – this after selling 526,409 in the preceding quarter, when the Chinese manufacturer temporarily overtook Tesla.

EV sales were still up 13.4% from the same quarter last year.

Previously the leading EV seller by far, Tesla reclaimed the top spot, reporting its delivery totals of 386,810 vehicles in the first quarter.

That’s down 20.2% compared with the company’s last quarter and down 8.5% vs the same period in the previous year.

That the electric-car pioneer is still healthy, especially in the ultra-competitive Chinese market, where BYD and a slew of local small- and medium-size EV competitors have been competing on prices, shows Tesla’s stubbornly global footing.

Tesla reported China-made local sales of 89,064 in March, up 0.2% year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

It also underlines the cutthroat nature of the EV market in China, where both BYD and Tesla are expecting slowdowns in EV sales growth, after BYD had briefly overtaken Tesla on sales volume in early in 2023, owing to a strategic policy of price reductions at home.

In all, BYD moved 626,263 vehicles of all types in the first quarter of 2023, a 13.4% increase year-on-year, and a 33.7% decline from the record-breaking 944,779 vehicles delivered in the final quarter of 2023.

March sales saw BYD reach 302,459 vehicles sold, or a 46% rise from the previous year, and the second-highest monthly sales figure achieved in the company’s history.

In March, the sales volume of BYD’s all-electric models rose 36.3%, to 139,902, while the PHEV model sales increased 56.4%, to 161,729 units.

In March, BYD cut prices on the latest vehicle models by 5%-20%, following Tesla’s price reductions in China announced in February.

Looking ahead, the firm has projected an aggressive sales goal of 3.6 million units by 2024, which would represent a 20% increase over the record e-car sales it achieved the previous year.

Electric Cars to Overtake Petrol in Norway

BEVs might overtake petrol-powered cars on its roads by the end of this year or early next year – a first in the world and one that has been boosted by substantial incentives, underpinned by the country’s riches from oil and gas production.

Diesels have already been overtaken, but it might take a few more years before BEVs do the same.

Its population is 5.5 million, and the country aspires to become the first anywhere to cease the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, which it is planning to do by 2025.

This year (by the beginning of which nine out of 10 new cars sold in Norway were BEVs), the country could be reaching the point at which the global peak in oil demand occurs.

For cars and vans alone, according to the IEA, to which nearly one-quarter of oil goes, this peak might come before 2030.

Norway has reached electric vehicle-dominated roads via massive tax exemptions for BEVs, subsidies for the use of BEVs, investment in the charging grid, and expropriation of land areas for specific public charging purposes.

As of mid-March, BEVs accounted for 24.3% of the nearly 2.9 million cars in Norway, trailing second-place petrol vehicles with 26.9%. That difference is shrinking and, with the trend continuing, BEVs could soon outstrip petrol cars next year, especially as the sale of just petrol cars is now negligible.

However, considering that BEVs were outsold by diesel cars by more than 369,000, it will be another three to four years before BEVs overtake March 2022, according to the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV).

Last year, the government restored the 25% value-added tax on BEVs costing more than 500,0 e-tron more costly.

However, even with the added tax, there were still tax exemptions for BEVs, resulting in the 43 billion crown cost to the state in 2023.

Nonetheless, according to predictions, new BEV sales this year will surpass 76,000 and, based on that, there could be more BEVs than both petrol and diesel cars by 2029, so long as the country achieves 100% zero-emission new car sales by 2025.

As BEVs become more and more accepted, the share of fossil-driven traffic will also be reduced.

Since the beginning of 2021, sales of petrol and diesel at Norwegian petrol stations are on average about 8% lower compared with the corresponding period last year.

If the trend continues, fossil fuels will increasingly lose its market share to electricity even if the hybrid cars sells continue to support the market in the short-term.

According to the Norwegian EV Association, in 2022 BEVs will account for about 95% of all new car sales.

It is impossible to overstate Norway’s role as a frontrunner in the global phase-out of the combustion engine.