Romania March 2018

BMW i3 Shines in Red Hot Market

The PEV market is boiling hot in Romania, with the current 228 Plug-ins registered so far this year representing a nine-fold(!) jump regarding last year, with this market selling in just three months what it hadn't in the first nine months of 2017...

Because of this exponential growth, the PEV Share jumped to a record 0.8%, and it's not even higher, because the mainstream market is also growing fast (+28%).

Last year Best Seller BMW i3 started once again in the lead, in its bid to win a third consecutive Best Seller title, but this time it seems that the 2017 runner-up, the Renault Zoe, is running closer, having registered already 43 units, not far from the 49 delivered last year. 

Smart is betting heavily in Romania, with its two models in Third and Fourth respectively, the brands best positioning anywhere. 

In a market strongly where the top four best selling models are BEVs, all electric models are outselling PHEVs (63% vs 37%), while the best selling PHEVs are only #5, with 12 units.

In the manufacturers ranking, BMW is headed for a third consecutive title, having a large 37% share of the market, while Smart and Renault are running for #2, with both having 19% share and 43 units, while Volvo is a distant Fourth Placed, with 7% share.

Source: http://www.drpciv..ro/

Belgium March 2018

Tesla Model S #1 in March

A total of 1.406 passenger Plug-ins were registered last month in Belgium, up 1% YoY, while the YTD count has a more positive balance (+25%), keeping the PEV Share at 2.4%.

PHEV's continue to run faster (+6% YoY) than BEVs (-9%), but with incentives on the negociating table in the Belgian parliament, the second half of the year could see some big changes in this market.

Looking at the Best Selling models, in March the Tesla Model S was the #1, with 146 units,  the nameplate best result in two years, allowing it to jump five positions into #9 (Its sibling Model X also jumped to #15), while the BMW i3 registered 91 units, a new record for the hot hatch, pulling it to #8. And these were the good news for BEVs...In a sea of PHEVs.

Adding insult to injury, the #17 BMW 740e is outselling the Renault Zoe (#18) and Nissan Leaf (#19), the current two Best Selling PEVs in Europe...Strange, isn't it?

Elsewhere, BMW had two models breaking into the three digit area last month, with the X5 PHEV registering 131 units (Best result in 9 months) and the 530e doing 129 deliveries (A new personal best), with the SUV climbing to Third in the 2018 ranking, and the sedan jumping to #4.

The Porsche Panamera PHEV continues to impress, with 111 units in March, while the Audi Q7 e-Tron had its best result in 10 months, with 57 deliveries.

In the manufacturers ranking, last year winner BMW proofited from the general good performance from its lineup to increase the leadership lead, to 31% share (Up 6%), while Volvo (14%, down 1%) and Mercedes (13%, down 3%) are running for Silver, and Volkswagen is Fourth, with 10%.

Czech Republic March 2018

Three horse race

The EV Market in Czech Republic is up a moderate 17%, with 207 units sold so far this year, with the PEV Share stable at 0.3%.

Looking at the models ranking, the four times Best Seller BMW i3 lost the leading position last month, because the VW e-Golf delivered 21 units in March, winning a precious advantage over the Bimmer's hot hatch.

But the (not so) surprising result of March was the new Nissan Leaf landing with 20 units, just one below the e-Golf, so it looks that the 2018 Best Seller trophy in this market will be a three horse race, so people, place your bets, because there's no clear favorite in this trio..

Elsewhere. good performances also for the Tesla Model S, #4 in March and YTD, making it a BEV Top 4, and also a worthy mention for the hot-selling Porsche Panamera PHEV, #7 with 7 deliveries.

In the brands ranking, an important development is happening, as BMW, having won every Manufacturers title since 2014, is now tied with Volkswagen, both with 26% share and 55 deliveries, will we see VW break BMW's domination? For the record, the only time BMW lost this award, it was in 2013, when Nissan won it, with 16 units...Over the whole year.

The last place of the podium is now in the hands of Nissan, with 12%, with Tesla following suit, with 10%..

China March 2018

BYD steps up

After the usual off-season (January and February), March came and sales surged to 59,000 units, up 85% YoY, with the 2018 sales doubling regarding the same period last year, to over 122,000 units.

Consequently, the 2018 PEV share surged to 1.8%, not that far off from the 2.1% of 2017, and with sales expected to pick up significantly as the year advances, the 2018 PEV share should end North of the 3% threshold.

Last month, the Chinese OEMs represented roughly 40% of all PEVs registered globally, an impressive number, that is sure to increase during 2018, possibly even beating the 46% record of last year.

With symbolic export numbers, the domestic market is more than enough to absorb the current Chinese production, helped by the fact that it is still a protected market and foreign OEMs hadn’t yet looked seriously at this niche, but with PEV quotas to be fulfilled in the near future, foreign brands are finally putting an effort, proof of that is that overseas makers now have a record 7% share. Of this (small) cake, 3% belong to Tesla, 2% to BMW, and 1% to Cadillac(!), with the remaining manufacturers sharing the final 1%.

In March, the main news was BYD stepping up production, having its second-best month ever (13,100 units), only below the 16,000 units of last December. With a new Qin sedan and Tang SUV coming soon, expect the Chinese carmaker to start posting 20,000-plus performances in the second half of the year, securing another Manufacturers Title (Its 6th) in its home market, while on the Global stage, it could be the only OEM playing in the same league as Tesla, once the Californian brand finally steps out of the 9 circles of Production Hell.

Here’s March Top 5 Best Selling models individual performance:

#1 – BAIC EC-Series: After a disappointing February, the EC-Series is back on track, having registered 7,818 units last month, up 117% YoY. Sure, it’s not the 16,000 registrations of last November, but the little EV continues being disruptive in the Chinese market, winning 6 of the last 7 Monthly Best-Selling trophies. A trendy design helps the EC-Series to be a popular choice in the Chinese Mega-Cities, where the 200 kms range are enough to run around the urban jungle.

#2 – BYD Song PHEV: Build Your Dreams (BYD) current star product had 4,685 registrations in March, the nameplate’s best result in the last 8 months. If the 2018 Best Selling PHEV title seems to be destined to stay with it, one questions if BYD’s “Model Y” can also reach the sales level of the BAIC EC-Series. Consistency seems to be BYD’s forte, so do not expect it to jump much beyond 5,000 units/month.

#3 – JAC iEV7S/E: JAC is one of the EV pioneers in China, selling plug-ins since 2010, and now with its iEV Crossover, it’s back at the game, registering 4.603 units last month. With a competitive price of USD 26,000 before incentives, this is a vehicle targeted at trendy urbanites that for some reason can’t reach a BYD Song or Roewe’s eRX5, getting in return a good-looking compact vehicle (Kia Soul-sized), with just enough power and range (114 hp / 251 kms) to not to make it look bad. 

#4 – BYD e5: BYD’s Plain Jane electric sedan, a favorite among taxi-drivers, registered 3,798 units in March, a new record for the nameplate. Offering 97% of the Qin specs (48 kWh battery, 300 kms range, 218 hp) in a less fancy suit, for a significantly lower price, the model is a bit of an unsung hero in the BYD stable, as the 70,000 units sold so far mean that it is the third bestselling PEV, behind the Qin and Tang models.

#5 – BYD Qin PHEV: The most common plug-in in China (140,000 units) had another good performance in March, with 3,361 units, being BYD’s “Model 3” seventh consecutive “3 to 4 thousand units/month” result (Talk about consistency!). Considering a new Qin is coming in a fewmonths, it is surprising the current one is still going strong. As for the new generation, sales above 5,000/month should become the norm, rivaling the Song as the Best Selling BYD.

Hawtai xEV260

2018 ranking

Outside the top positions, that had no major surprises, there were several positive performances below the podium, like the Hawtai xEV260 compact SUV posting its first four-digit performance (1,350 units), allowing it to show up for the first time on the Top 20, in…#20. Speaking of compact SUVs, the Roewe eRX5 PHEV posted a year best performance, by registering 2,303 units.

Significant changes on the ranking only happened below the Eighth place, but the BYD e5 jump from nowhere into #9 was nothing short of remarkable, and with the Sixth spot not that far away, I wouldn’t rule out three BYD’s on the Top 6 soon.

There were was another nameplate storming through the Top 20, the Tesla Model X returned to the Top 20, in #15, recovering the Best Selling foreign nameplate status, ahead of the BMW X1 PHEV, but despite being surpassed by the Tesla Sports-Minivan-SUV, the German SUV had its best month so far, with 854 deliveries, allowing it to climb three positions, into #16.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BYD is back at the leader’s throne, having increased its lead to 7% (24% vs 17%), over the runner-up BAIC, will the Beijing automaker be able to step up the pace and recover ground?

In Third Place we have a close race, with the Shanghai-based Roewe (11%) being closely followed by JAC (10%), this tight duel does not have a clear favorite, but if I had to bet, I would go for Roewe, has the Shanghai carmaker lineup is less dependent from a single model performance.

Germany March 2018

Big in Germany

Record month

The PEV Fever has definitely caught on in Germany, with March signaling a record month, with over 6,700 registrations, a 52% increase YoY, with the PEV Share at 2%.

But more important than the Plug-in niche, are the seismic changes happening in the fuels mix of the mainstream market: Diesel sales continue to sink (-25%!) YoY, to the benefit of all other fuels, regular gasoline-powered cars are up 9%, while alternative fuels are jumping upwards, with the highlights being CNG (+519%, to 1,046 units), but PHEVs (+32%) and BEVs (+73%) are also increasing significantly, leaving diesel with a market share of only 31%, less than half of what regular gasoline cars have (64%). At this pace, Diesel sales will be dead in das diesel Vaterland by 2021-22...Would someone imagine this four years ago?

Back at Plug-in sales, the Best Selling model in March was the VW e-Golf (510 units), stealing the Best Seller status from the Smart Fortwo ED (Only Fifth, with 454 deliveries), followed closely by the Renault Zoe (523 units, best performance since June), with the Third Placed BMW i3 scoring 459 units, and the #4 Smart Forfour ED, 457 deliveries, a new record for the 4-seater and the first time it outsold its 2-seater sibling. 

So, a Top 5 BEV. And (some) people still don't believe in fully electric cars...

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Volkswagen e-Golf	534
2	Renault Zoe	523
3	BMW i3	459
4	Smart Forfour ED	457
5	Smart Fortwo ED	454

In a traditionally fragmented market, the leader Smart Fortwo ED lost precious ground to its followers, but without immediate podium changes. 

The most relevant changes were the Kia Soul EV climbing two positions to Fifth Place, while the Smart Forfour ED jumped three positions to Sixth, thus making a full BEV Top 6.

The Best Selling PHEV title also changed hands, with the BMW 225xe Act. Tourer (404 deliveries best result in six months) beating the VW PHEVs and stealing the ceptre.

Close to the Top 10 is the hot-selling Porsche Panamera PHEV, rising once again, this time to #11, confirming that buyers enjoy "Electricity" and "Porsche" in the same sentence...

The Mercedes E350e had once again a record performance in March, with 258 registrations, jumping three positions to #12, while the new Leaf landed with 346 units, the nameplate's best result in three years, allowing it to jump to #18. 

"What about Tesla?" - You might ask.

Well, the Model S scored 304 deliveries last month, the nameplate's best result in a year, jumping into #13. As for the Model X, deliveries are markedly slower, having delivered only 124 units in March, still the nameplate best performance in 9 months.

In the manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen is in the lead, with 19% share (Down 1%), while last year winner BMW climbed to Second Place, with 16% share (Up 2%), supassin Smart (15%, down 1%).

Regarding the BEV/PHEV share, BEVs are now ahead of the race, let's hope this time it will be for good..

Source: kba.de

Plug-ins and Regular Hybrids

Pl	Model	March Sales
1	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	1,346
2	Toyota C-HR Hybrid	1,071
3	Toyota Auris Hybrid	909
4	Toyota RAV4 Hybrid	673
5	VW e-Golf	534

Unlike other markets, where regular hybrids are feeling the heat and being reached by PEVs, Toyota still owns the podium, with the only Plug-in presente being only Fifth, with less than half of the sales of the leader Yaris Hybrid.