Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Sees Norway As Europe’s California

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Norway may not seem much like the California of Europe, but for one company the country fits the bill. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is invading the European market, but it is starting with the Scandanavian country. The Tesla Model S was the best selling car in Norway for the month of September, and the fast uptake makes the country the perfect platform for expansion into Europe.

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Sees Norway As Europe's California

Norway is Arctic cold, it’s in the middle of an oil and gas boom and its got a population of just five million. Those aren’t the basis of the Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) characterization of the country as Europe’s California, however. What matters to Tesla is that the country is rich and the populace loves electric cars.

Norway Tesla Sales

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S sales represented more than 5 percent of all models sold in Norway during the month of September, according to data sourced by The Wall Street Journal. The company sold 616 Model S cars in the country last month.

Norway represents just 1 percent of the entire European car market. Though the country is a good start for Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), it may not be the best country in Europe to launch an electric car campaign from.The Model S is also on sale in Switzerland and in the Netherlands, where the car is manufactured.

Norway pros and cons

Norway isn’t the perfect country for Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), but it is a good one. The country’s rich renewable-loving population might represent the best market in Europe for the Tesla Model S, though the advent of solar powered superchargers is unlikely to take the country by storm.

There are some problems with Norway, however. The country only shares borders with three countries, and two of those are so far north that they’re little used. It’s sole major border with Sweden offered little opportunity for Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) to show off its cars to other Europeans. There is also a population constraint in the Norse land.

Norway’s government is massively in favor of the electric car, however, and the country’s people are rich enough to buy them. Winter in Narvik may not invite comparisons to summer in San Francisco, but for Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) the two are close enough.

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