Markets Roundup April 2013 (Updated)

Leaf's speeding up sales

Editor's note - I've added new figures to this post, for easier identification of this new data, it will be written in blue.


Nissan Leaf Superstar - World Edition

With the risk of repeating this title a lot in the coming months, the truth is that the japanese hatchback is improving its performance everywhere, in April the Leaf conquered the monthly leadership in two more countries, Germany and Austria, adding them to an extensive list of countries at number one (Nine, to be more precise).

Besides the two countries mentioned above, it's important to say that since the beginning of the year, Nissan added three countries (Denmark, Australia, Estonia) to their #1's list, without losing any of those it had (Norway, UK, Hong Kong, Ireland) in December 2012...Not bad, eh?

Another measure of Nissan's electric car is that the lowest position on the several EV sales rankings is one #4 in Holland, but even this position isn't all that shabby, because it is the best among pure electrics...

Although with a handful of units, nevertheless it's important to register the landing of the Leaf in two more countries: The first four units were sold in Iceland and the first three in the Czech Republic. Will they the 10th and 11th countries in Leaf's list of #1's?

In a different level, the Nissan Leaf improves even further in Norway, in April it was #2 in the global ranking with 3,3% share, that's even before the british built, improved and cheaper 2013 model arrives. Will we then see Nissan's electric car #1 in Norway?

All these good performances country-wise contribute to the global leadership of the Nissan Leaf, holding that position since January and allowing a comfortable 10% margin (24% share vs 14%) over the number 2 in the ranking, the Model S. 

Trends in the Great 7 

Of the 7 largest markets for EV's, five (USA, Japan, France, Norway and China) have improved their share, while two (Germany and the Netherlands) saw their EV share decrease.

In the US, Tesla's Model S is leader for the second month in a row, an important feat since it has a price tag several thousands above its main competitors, it will be interesting to see for how long can Tesla keep this title.

In France, the Renault Zoe earns a third consecutive #1 and represents now 48% of the EV market, something that should only improve in the months to come.

Fragmented Markets

While it's normal for this early stage of EV markets to be dominated by one or two models, there are a some countries where things are more fragmented and because of that, more interesting.

Here are three markets where the #1 has less than 30% share:

In the USA, the Model S is leader with 28%, followed by the Volt and the Leaf with 22% and it's this last one, presently #3, that analysts predict to be #1 in the end of this year, so a lot should happen here until then.

With four different leaders in four months, the German EV is in "no mans land" territory, with the #1 (Smart Fortwo ED) managing 29% share and 390 sales, followed by three models at 19% with just 21 units separating them. In December things should be a lot different, by that time VW and BMW should be fighting for #1, leaving present contenders way back.

In Austria and despite the small figures, things are also leveled, with just 8% share separating the number one (Renault Twizy - 27%) from the third place (Opel Ampera - 19%). And between them, the #2, the Nissan Leaf is hoping to increase sales and win over the #1 position in the next months.

A white-ish Fluence ZE in Israel, the only country that actually likes it

Other Markets

Giving some love to less visible markets, it's possible to confirm the fall of EV share in another euro market, the Czech Republic  is down to 0,02% from 0,06% in 2012, but things are looking better elsewhere, in Israel there were 422 EV's sold this year, with EV share improving to 0,58%, up from 0,37% in 2012, making this middle eastern country the 11th largest EV market in the world, ahead of countries like Italy, Spain or Switzerland.

A curious thing about this market is the fact that the only electric car selling significantly is the Renault Fluence ZE, which coincidentally is also the only market where the electric sedan sells in decent numbers, thanks to the Better Place deal.

For all you EV Sales blog readers from Russia, this month i have figures from their home market, in 2012 there were sold a hundred of electric cars there, 49 of which were Mitsubishi's I-Miev.

Will the I-Miev hold on to the russian title in the end of the year?