---
title: "Norwegians Buy More Chinese Electric Cars Even as Their Doubts Grow"
description: "A third of Norwegian EV drivers say they would shun Chinese brands, yet Chinese-owned marques took a quarter of new EV sales"
author: "Frank Hale"
published: 2026-09-26T05:00:45Z
modified: 2026-09-26T19:59:32Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/norwegians-buy-more-chinese-electric-cars-even-as-their-doub-5e65ab
language: en
tags: ["ev", "china", "security", "tesla", "norway", "europe", "business"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Norwegians Buy More Chinese Electric Cars Even as Their Doubts Grow

*A third of Norwegian EV drivers say they would shun Chinese brands, yet Chinese-owned marques took a quarter of new EV sales*

By Frank Hale · September 26, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/norwegians-buy-more-chinese-electric-cars-even-as-their-doub-5e65ab

## In brief

- Survey of nearly 15,000 Norwegian EV owners found 31% would avoid Chinese brands for political reasons, up from 23% a year earlier
- Chinese and Chinese-owned brands took about 25% of new EV registrations in Norway in the first half of the year, versus virtually none in 2019
- Norwegian researchers found a NIO car transmitting data to China, and a Yutong bus whose maker could in theory stop it
- EVs were 97.8% of Norwegian new car registrations in the first eight months of 2026, against 21.7% in the EU
- Chinese-owned brands could overtake European brands in Norway as soon as 2027 if the trend holds

The Norwegians do not trust the Chinese cars. They buy them anyway.

A new survey by the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association, run from March 31 to May 3 among nearly 15,000 electric car owners, found that 31 percent of Norwegian EV drivers would avoid buying a Chinese brand for political reasons. A year earlier the figure was 23 percent. The doubts are growing. So are the sales.

Chinese brands like BYD, NIO and Dongfeng, and Chinese-owned brands like Volvo and Polestar, accounted for about 25 percent of new electric car registrations in Norway in the first half of the year. In 2019 they were virtually non-existent.

> New cars are, in practice, computers on wheels.

That was Christina Bu, the association’s secretary general. She said that as data security and privacy get more attention, more consumers worry about where the cars come from and how the data is handled.

The worry has substance behind it. A few years ago Norwegian security researchers found that a car made by the Chinese maker NIO was transmitting data to China. Other tests on a bus from China’s Yutong showed the manufacturer had access to the vehicle’s control system and could, in theory, stop it or render it unusable remotely.

Bu said consumers weigh several factors when they buy. For some, price and technology decide. For others it is the moral questions and the uncertainty about data sharing and security. The numbers say price and technology are winning.

The ground gained in Norway matters because Norway is ahead of everyone. Electric cars made up 97.8 percent of new car registrations there in the first eight months of 2026, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. The European Union, by comparison, stood at 21.7 percent between January and August, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Chinese-owned brands are already the second-largest group by origin in Norway’s new EV market, an earlier association report found. It said they could overtake the European brands as soon as 2027 if the trend holds, and that Norway could become one of the first European markets where Chinese EV makers take a dominant position.

The same advance runs across the EU. Registrations of the five groups with Chinese brands tracked by the manufacturers’ association rose about 71 percent in August from a year earlier. Their combined share of the new car market climbed from 6.6 percent to 10.8 percent, roughly one new car in nine. Leapmotor was up 211 percent, Chery 201 percent, BYD 129 percent and the Geely Group 24 percent.

There was a turn in the politics of Tesla too. The share of Norwegians who said they would avoid the American brand for political reasons fell to 24 percent, from 43 percent last year. Elon Musk’s political involvement and his support for far-right leaders had drawn opposition to the brand. Bu said last year’s attention has faded, and that may be why fewer people now rule Tesla out.

Tesla’s own registrations grew 53 percent in the EU in August. In Norway it remains the best-selling new car brand of the year, with a 17.5 percent share of registrations through September 24. The cars the Norwegians argue about are the cars they drive home.