Spain May 2020

Renault Zoe leads

Despite the pandemic-related automotive crash, with last month dropping 73% (-54% YTD), the Spanish plugin market is resisting much better, with May hitting 1.116 units, down just 29% YoY, with 2020 now counting 9.611 units, up 31% YoY, while looking at market share, last month reached 3,3% (1,1% BEV), keeping the 2020 PEV share at 3.7% (1.9% BEV), while BEVs are receiding (33% last month), with both powertrains at 50% this year.

As for last month best sellers, we had a surprising podium, with the Hyundai Ioniq PHEV winning last month Best Seller trophy, thanks to a record 137 registrations, followed closely by the Ford Kuga PHEV (129 units), while the crossover Peugeot 2008 EV closed the podium, with 50 deliveries. 

In the YTD table, good news also for Ford's SUV Kuga PHEV, that shooted to #6, and the Korean Hyundai Ioniq PHEV, that came out of the dark into #12, being the two major changes to the table.  

A reference also to the DS 7 PHEV, that climbed to #9, making 3 PSA models in the 9 top positions, while the Porsche Cayenne PHEV joined the ranking, in #20. 

Outside the Top 20, besides the aforementioned Peugeot 2008 EV, the BMW X3 PHEV and Volvo XC40 PHEV also shined, by delivering 26 and 44 units, respectively, with the Swedish model poised to join the Top 20 soon.

On the manufacturers ranking, the top positions remained stable, with Peugeot (12%) ahead, followed by Renault (9%), while Tesla (6%) is the new Bronze medalist, ahead of Kia, Hyundai and Audi, all with 5% each.

Sweden May 2020

BMW X3 PHEV: a future star?

22% share in May, 26% in 2020

We start the month in Sweden, where we are witnessing market still hit by the pandemic, if local dealerships weren't closed during the past few months in Sweden, most of the automotive factories elsewhere were, which lead that some models had low inventory levels and disrupted their usual registration levels, while others, with lower level of demand, or that re-started production earlier, have been less affected.

Looking specifically at plugins, one can't really complain, as they continued to grow YoY, while the overall market crashed 50% in May…Because of this, May scored a 22% share for plugins (5,3% for BEVs only), sliding the 2020 PEV share down by 1%, to 26% (7,4% BEV). Currently BEVs are receiding, only representing 29% of plugin sales.

Looking at the remaining fuels, diesel continues to drop, now at 26% share (36% a year ago), so at this pace, diesel sales will be dead by 2023...Petrol market share is also down, from 46% last year, to the current 42%, while plugless hybrids grew from 8% to 10% share.

Looking at last month Best Sellers, there weren't big surprises, with Volvo and Kia placing two models each, the Volvo midsizer twins, the S/V60 PHEV were last month leaders, with 296 registrations, with the Kia Niro PHEV following right behind, with 262 units.

The most surprising performance ended just below this Top 5, with the fresh BMW X3 PHEV in the 6th spot, with 165 registrations. In Station-Wagon country, when you (still) don't have a Wagon PHEV, the respective SUV counterpart is sure to become a Best Seller... 

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Volvo S/V60 PHEV	296
2	Kia Niro PHEV	262
3	VW Passat GTE	247
4	Volvo XC60 PHEV	210
5	Kia Optima PHEV	196

On the 2020 ranking, the podium positions remained the same, but the Kia Niro PHEV jumped two spots, to #4, while we have two Volvo's climbing positions in the Top 10, with the XC60 PHEV up two positions, to #7, while the big twins S/V90 PHEV reached #10 last month, making 3 models from the Swedish brand in the Top 10.

In the second half of the table there's also plenty to talk about, in the BEV field, the Nissan Leaf jumped to #13, while the eternal VW e-Golf rejoined the table, in #18, while on the PHEV side, the Kia Ceed is proving popular, going up to #16 (having a SW body helps in Sweden...), while the BMW X3 PHEV joined the ranking, #17, and the current sales pace (165 units in May), i guess a Top 10 position for the German SUV is not impossible. 

Outside the Top 20, a mention to the Ford Kuga PHEV (100 units, new record), that is a strong candidate for a Top 20 spot, which would be a first for the American maker. 

In the manufacturers ranking, Volvo (20%, up 1%) returned to the leadership, displacing Kia (19% share, down 1%) from the throne, while Volkswagen (13%, up 1%) closes the podium, comfortably ahead of Tesla, BMW and Mitsubishi, all with 6% share each.

Global Top 20 April 2020

Models: -30% YoY in April, -12% YTD

It was bad, but considering the circumstances, it could have been worse.

Registrations were down 30% YoY, to some 110.000 units, while the YTD numbers are now down 12% regarding the same period last year, with 571.000 registrations. 

If in isolation these numbers look didn't looked good, after all, it was the biggest fall ever, placing things into context, things weren't all that bad, because of the pandemic, the overall global market is even in worse shape than plugins, with sales down 45% in April and 29% this year, because of this, April's PEV share stood at a meritable 2,8%, pulling the 2020 plugin share to 2,7%,which is already above the 2,5% of last year.

Add this to the fact that the plugin market was already looking shaky, in the second half of 2019 it had drops in the order of 27% in October and 25% in November, due to the subsidy changes in China, and turns out that dropping just 30% in the middle of a pandemic isn't so bad, is it?

The future will depend much on the development of the pandemic, but if the worse is over (a big IF), then we should be optimistic that plugins will weather the upcoming economic crisis with greater ease than the overall market, with the plugin share growing significantly in the remainder of the year.

BEVs dropped at the same pace as plugin hybrids (-30%), allowing the BEV/PHEV breakdown to remain stable at 67% BEV, 33% PHEV. 

With the Chinese EV market recovering in April, the Climbers of the Month were Chinese, with the BYD Qin Pro EV jumping four positions to #6, thanks to 5.096 units, allowing it to be April's 2nd Best Selling plugin, only behind the galactic Tesla Model 3 (11.761 units), while the GAC Aion S shooted 5 spots, to #10, thanks to a year best performance of 3,586 units.

But there was more action on the top half of the table, with the stainless-steel VW e-Golf, climbind yet another position, to #4, thanks to a strong result in China, something that the BMW 530e/Le also benefitted, allowing it to jump to #5, with the big Bimmer surpassing both the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Audi e-Tron, thus winning the lead of the Best Selling PHEV and Best Selling Full Size Plugin categories in just one month.

Other models on the rise are the VW Passat PHEV (It includes the German-made Passat GTE and the China-made Passat PHEV), up to #11, while the Kia Niro EV joined the table, in #17, kicking out of the Top 20 the Volvo XC60 PHEV, now making 15 BEVs in the Top 20. 

But things should look even better for BEVs soon, with the highly expected Tesla Model Y said to join the table soon (May?), while the #21 NIO ES6 will surely join the Top 20 next month, as it is only 187 units beind the #20 BMW 330e, and in April it scored a record 2.907 units...

In the PHEV side, the only model with hopes to join the table is the Li Xiang One (2.622 units in April, new record), some 1.100 units below the #21 Nio ES6.

Coincidentally, both models come from Chinese EV startups...Disruption, anyone?

Manufacturers: Volkswagen and BYD shine

April saw Tesla win another Best Seller title, but this time the lead wasn't as significant as in peak months, mostly merit of its competitors, with Volkswagen pulling a Year Best performance (In the middle of a pandemic?!? Yes, all thanks to the Chinese operations…) of over 11.000 units, while BYD did even better, by registering almost 12.000 units (#2 in April), its best score in 6 months...Is the Chinese maker returning to form? 

One thing is certain, the Silver medal of the #2 BMW is looking pretty shaky, with Volkswagen already breating down its neck (725 units separate both makers), while BYD could also kick out BMW from the podium in a couple of months...

This would mean VW in #2 and BYD in #3 by the end of Q2, with the German maker confirming its target in VAG's Year Zero of the Plan to Rule the EV World (Become the biggest OEM outside Tesla), allowing it to concentrate in going after the Californian brand in next few years. As for BYD, with sales down 64% YoY, a lot still needs to be done to return to the growth path, but with two five-digit performances in the past two months, it seems the Chinese maker has found its way again, so a podium spot should be in the cards for them this year.

Others makers growing this year are the #6 Renault (+52% YoY), when in 2019 it ended just in #13 (well, someone has to pull the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the other two are just sliding...), the #8 Audi has seen its sales triple(!) YoY, while #9 Volvo is seeing its sales grow 34%, now standing well above the #16 of 2019. On the other hand, BAIC, Bronze medalist in 2019, now is just #17...

In other news, the Chinese SAIC was up one spot, to #5, while on the second half of the table, Mercedes production ramp up is making itself felt, with the German maker climbing to to #13, while both GAC (4.106 units, new Year Best) and Toyota (4.159, new YB) climbed one position, to #15 and #16, respectively, with the Japanese maker having much to thank to its Chinese operations for this. 

Outside the Top 20, a reference to the #21 NIO, just 174 units behind the #20 Skoda, and with the Chinese startup scoring 3.155 units last month, it will be a matter of time until it features in the table.