World Top 10 May 2013

Mitsubishi EV sales are on hold 

Models - All the same 

May left the ranking like it was last month, with the exception of the bottom place, where Renault recovered the tenth place for the Twizy.

Despite this entry in the Top 10, the french EV has two models following its small tail, with the #11 Chery QQ3 EV and the #12 Ford Fusion Energi less than 100 units behind it, so a lot can happen in June...

Pure electrics continue on the rebound, with BEV share increasing another point to 62% of the market.

Pl	Models	YTD
1	Nissan Leaf	15.728
2	Tesla Model S	8.897
3	Chevrolet Volt (1)	8.628
4	Toyota Prius PHEV	6.782
5	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	4.307
6	Renault Zoe	3.412
7	Mitsubishi I-Miev (2)	2.790
8	Renault Kangoo ZE	2.514
9	Ford C-Max Energi	2.027
10	Renault Twizy	1.267

Manufacturers - Mitsubishi Suffers

In the Manufacturers ranking, Nissan holds its leadership with 24% share, now followed by Tesla at 14% and Chevrolet, with 13%.

Mitsubishi has been hampered by batteries issues and drops to fourth, losing 2% share on the way to 13%.

Behind the seven major players, figures become a bit sketchy as one doesn't know for sure how the chinese brands are behaving, but taking in account confirmed numbers, BYD switches positions with Chery, with the e6 maker now #8, leaving its compatriot in #9 and Smart rounding up the table in #10.

Pl	Brands	YTD
1	Nissan	15.728
2	Tesla	8.907
3	Chevrolet	8.628
4	Mitsubishi	8.446
5	Renault	7.804
6	Toyota	7.178
7	Ford	3.945
8	BYD	1.277
9	Chery (e)	1.250
10	Smart	759

(1) - Includes Holden Volt, Opel and Vauxhall Ampera;
(2) - Includes Citröen C-Zero and Peugeot iOn.
(e) - Estimate


Questions for June

Can the Volt family reach #2?

And can the Zoe reach #5?

Is it possible for the Kangoo ZE to remove the Mitsu I-Miev from the seventh place?

Who gets this time the tenth place in the models ranking?

In the manufacturers ranking, can Chevrolet reach #2?

How many more positions will Mitsubishi lose?

Can BYD hold on to #8?

Markets Roundup May 2013

Rear of a black Renault Zoe

The Rise of Zoe - World Edition

This month the french hatchback started to arrive in significant numbers to countries other than France and that resulted in three #1's for Renault, in May the Zoe topped the EV charts for the first time in Spain, Italy and Austria, adding that to the top spot it already had in France and brilliants #2 in Germany and #3 (And best selling BEV) in the Netherlands, Renault's supermini recovered the top spot (both monthly and YTD) in Europe, relegating the Nissan Leaf to second place. In June the UK-made Leaf's will start being delivered, so it's to be expected that the japanese hatch bounces back then.

Trends in the G7 (Great Seven)

The US market represented 71% of all plug-in sales in May, some 20% above the usual share, because the japanese market sank this month, with just 924 units, which represented just 21% of sales in February, the causes for this terrible performance was not only Mitsubishi's battery problems, but also the Nissan Leaf selling below expectations (Just 708 units).

Despite this, the japanese EV share is still above last year's (0,84% vs 0,77%), just like in six of the seven major markets, with a welcome recovery of the dutch market, now slightly above '12 share (1,104% vs 1,103%). Even Germany, the only country with an lower EV share in '13, is slowly recovering and it's now standing at 0,14%.

Ruining our month theme, here are the e6 taxis involved in the Hong Kong deal 

Other Markets

Italy (165 units), Austria (53 units) and Hong Kong (55 units) registered the best selling months of the year, with the asian market scoring also an all-time record, thanks to a BYD Taxi fleet deal, and already breaking the sales record of 2012 (89 units), ending May with a total of 99 EV's sold in 2013.

Speaking of record breaking, the other country to beat this year the sales record is tiny Iceland, that already sold 21 plug-in cars this year, beating last year's record of 18 units, with the Toyota Prius Plug-In also beating the 2012 record for best selling model (Mitsu I-Miev - 7 units) by 2 units, establishing for now the new record in 9 units sold. Small numbers, so plenty of space for improvement here.

Chevrolet Spark EV painted in black: Will the GM model be more than a compliance car?

Questions for June

Will the Chevrolet Spark EV beat all compliance cars in its sales debut?

Can the Nissan Leaf recover the lead in the Euro market?

Will the Zoe reach #1 in Germany?

Can Volvo recover the top spot in its home market?

Japan May 2013

Black Mitsu Outlander PHEV

Leaf in Number One Again Edition

Taking profit of Mitsubishi's battery problems, the Nissan Leaf recovered the top spot in Japan, thanks to 708 units sold in May, accounting for the majority of plug-in sales this month, that settled  for a meager 924 units, the worst result since 2011 for the japanese EV market.

By brands, Mitsubishi is number one with 57%, thanks to a diversified range, followed at distance by Nissan with 39%.

Pl	Japan	May	YTD	%	Pl '12
1	Nissan Leaf	708	4.641	39	2
2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV		4.307	37	N/A
3	Mitsubishi I-Miev	62	976	8	3
4	Mitsubishi Minicab Miev	47	837	7	4
5	Mitsubishi Minicab Miev Truck	7	512	4	N/A
6	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	100	500	4	1
	TOTAL	924	11.773	100

e) Estimate

Source: evn.blog.eonet.jp, Manufacturers

Hong Kong May 2013

A black-painted frog Nissan Leaf

First Post Edition

We welcome a new ranking, Hong Kong, comparing with the rest of China, this autonomous territory has a very different automotive landscape, with foreign brands taking the bulk of sales.

As such, the small local EV market also reflects that, with the Renault-Nissan Alliance dominating sales, with the exception of May, where a 45 taxi fleet deal including BYD put its e6 model on the top spot.

As a result, the Renault Fluence ZE dropped to second place with 35 units, the Leaf is now third with 18 sales and finally in fourth place, there's the I-Miev with just one unit sold.

Finally, the EV share now stands at a respectable 0,52%, more than doubling last year share of 0,21%, when only the Leaf was sold here.

Pl	Hong Kong	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	BYD e6	45	45	45	N/A
2	Renault Fluence ZE	10	35	35	N/A
3	Nissan Leaf		18	18	1
4	Mitsubishi I-Miev		1	1	N/A
TOTAL		55	99

Source: HKMTA, Manufacturers

Italy May 2013

A Black Twizy on the sidewalk

The Rise of Zoe - Italian Edition

Finally a good month for the Italian EV market, with 165 units sold it's the best month this year and one of the best performances ever, which lead their share to improve to a still shy 0,07%, almost half of what was in the end of last year (0,13%).

The Renault Zoe jumped to #1 in May and #2 YTD, making this one of the countries where the french supermini got a warmest welcome.

In third comes the Smart Fortwo ED, climbing five positions on the '12 performance, relegating the Nissan Leaf to the fourth position.

Pl	Italy	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Twizy	51	180	42	1
2	Renault Zoe	80	90	21	N/A
3	Smart Fortwo ED	22	69	16	8
4	Nissan Leaf	11	58	14	3
5	Renault Fluence ZE	1	17	4	7
6	Peugeot iOn		7	2	5
7	Tesla Roadster		2	0	10
8	Citröen C-Zero		1	0	4
	TOTAL	165	425	100

Source: Manufacturers, greenstart.it

Germany May 2013

A black Smart Fortwo ED Brabus Edition 

The Rise of Zoe - German Edition

With 344 units sold in May, the German EV market went down 34% regarding April, leaving the german EV share at 0,14%, below the 0,19% mark registered in the end of 2012.

In the models ranking we've got the Renault Twizy collecting its second monthly #1 with 133 units sold, enabling it to rise to second place YTD, below the Smart Fortwo ED, now a full scale production model.

The Renault Zoe climbs to #5 YTD, thanks to a brilliant second place in May and the next months should see it climb even further, maybe hitting #3 YTD before the summer ends. This is an important market for the french BEV, after its home market, this should be the most important country numbers-wise, with sales predicted to hit 150-250 units a month.

Because this year every month has several changes in the ranking, strange things happen in it, like this month, the Opel Ampera, despite delivering one of the best performances in the last few months (#3 with 37 units), dropped one position YTD to #6.

In the brands ranking, Renault recovered the #1 spot, with 32% share, relegating Smart to #2, with 28%.

Pl	Germany	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Smart Fortwo ED e)	30	520	28	7
2	Renault Twizy	133	389	21	1
3	Citröen C-Zero	5	267	15	4
4	Nissan Leaf	11	252	14	5
5	Renault Zoe	116	159	9	N/A
6	Opel Ampera	37	137	7	2
7	Mitsubishi I-Miev	12	51	3	9
8	Renault Fluence ZE		30	2	6
	TOTAL	344	1.832

e) Estimate

Source: Manufacturers, kba.de

France May 2013

The attractive Renault Zoe dipped below 500 units/month

Problems in Zoeland Edition

With 1.024 units sold in May, the french EV market went back to last year levels, with the EV share decreasing to 0,83% as result of it.

The reason for this decrease in sales was the 45% dip that the Renault Zoe suffered, ending May with just 483 units sold. The question for the next months is if this poor performance by the french hatch is temporary or this might be the first sign of a sales failure.

The rest of the ranking remains stable, with the Renault Twizy climbing to #4 in May and putting pressure on Bolloré on the YTD ranking.

Pl	France	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Zoe	483	2.830	46	12
2	Renault Kangoo ZE	243	1.730	28	1
3	Nissan Leaf	124	442	7	6
4	Bolloré Blue Car	49	258	4	3
5	Renault Twizy	64	250	4	2
6	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	25	192	3	7
7	Smart Fortwo ED	10	158	3	11
8	Mia Electric	13	103	2	8
9	Peugeot iOn	3	74	1	5
10	Opel Ampera	1	30	0	10
11	Citröen C-Zero	3	26	0	4
12	Renault Fluence ZE	6	16	0	9
13	Chevrolet Volt		7	0	13
14	Fisker Karma		7	0	14
	TOTAL	1.024	6.124	100

e) Estimate

Source: Manufacturers, Automobile Propre

Norway May 2013

The Volvo V60 Plug-In is one of the models with great sales potential in Norway

Leaf Rules Edition

With 391 cars sold, a 39% decrease over last month, the EV market suffered from an average month by the Nissan Leaf with 330 sales and #8 in the general ranking. It's curious to realize that an eighth place in the general ranking for the Leaf now can be classified as "average".

The rest of the ranking has much smaller numbers, the Mitsubishi I-Miev is #2, with 17 units and 181 YTD, followed by the Toyota Prius Plug-In, number one among Plug-In Hybrids, segment that will grow in the next months, now that they benefit from the same fiscal incentives as pure electric cars, for now they represent just 9% of the market.

Pl	Norway	May	YTD	%	Pl '12
1	Nissan Leaf	330	1.634	76	1
2	Mitsubishi I-Miev	17	181	8	2
3	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	16	94	4	5
4	Volvo V60 Plug-In e)	15	84	4	N/A
5	Renault Kangoo ZE e)	10	61	3	8
6	Peugeot iOn		28	1	4
7	Citröen C-Zero	1	27	1	3
8	Opel Ampera	2	24	1	6
	TOTAL	391	2.149

e) Estimate

Source: BSCB, Manufacturers

Denmark May 2013

Black Nissan Leaf 

The Rise of Zoe - Danish Edition

With 28 units sold in May and 0,17% share, the danish EV market is far from the performances it had a few months ago.

The Nissan Leaf just needed 9 sales to secure the #1 spot and improve even further the YTD leadership, but the big news was the landing of the Renault Zoe, which sold 6 units, enough to secure a brilliant #2 spot this month and in third another newcomer made its position, with the Renault Twizy making its first footsteps in Denmark.

But not everything went smoothly for Renault, because the Fluence ZE, its usual best seller, dived to fifth place in May, suffering from the Better Place collapse. Although the Fluence is still #2 YTD, the Zoe / Twizy duo came in the right time to balance a possible disappearance from the top spots of the french sedan.  

Denmark	May	YTD	%
Nissan Leaf	9	67	52
Renault Fluence ZE	2	38	29
Peugeot iOn	1	7	5
Renault Zoe	6	6	5
Renault Twizy	4	5	4
Renault Kangoo ZE	3	3	2
Opel Ampera	2	2	2
Smart Fortwo ED	1	1	1
Toyota Prius Plug-In		1	1
TOTAL	28	130	100

Source: http://www.bilimp.dk/statistics/index.asp

Spain May 2013

Black Zoe

The Rise of Zoe - Spanish Edition

After reaching #3 last month, in May the Renault Zoe conquered the top spot with 43 units and now it's looking to climb to the top of the YTD chart.

Other Renault, the Twizy, is second, followed by the Nissan Leaf, while the YTD leader, the Mitsubishi I-Miev is back to normal numbers, selling 13 cars and dropping in May to #4.

By brands, Renault recovered the #1 spot with 42% share, but it's still far from the domination it had last year (72%).

Pl	Spain	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Mitsubishi I-Miev	13	114	32	10
2	Renault Twizy	28	82	23	1
3	Nissan Leaf	26	69	19	3
4	Renault Zoe	43	64	18	N/A
5	Smart Fortwo ED	1	13	4	16
6	Toyota Prius Plug-In		5	1	7
7	Opel Ampera		4	1	9
8	Renault Fluence ZE	1	3	1	4
	TOTAL	112	356	100

Source: Manufacturers, Anianca

Netherlands May 2013

The Plug Prius leads in the Netherlands

The Rise of Zoe - Dutch Edition

Despite a below average sales month (310 units), and because the global dutch market is falling even more (-37%!), this month the EV share recovered to the 2012 levels, at 1,10%.

A strong Prius Plug-In dethroned the Opel Ampera from number one both on the monthly and YTD rankings, and the Renault Zoe jumped to third in May, benefiting from its first real month of sales (48 units).

On the other hand, the Nissan Leaf had a terrible sales month, selling just 10 units. Is it a hiccup or is the Zoe stealing sales? To be seen in the next episodes.

Pl	Netherlands	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Toyota Prius Plug-In	106	790	41	2
2	Opel Ampera	75	577	30	1
3	Chevrolet Volt	36	156	8	3
4	Nissan Leaf	10	125	6	4
5	Renault Kangoo ZE	16	117	6	5
6	Renault Twizy	11	67	3	6
7	Renault Zoe	48	58	3	N/A
8	Fisker Karma	7	23	1	8
9	Peugeot iOn		12	1	7
10	Citröen C-Zero		8	0	9
11	Renault Fluence ZE		6	0	10
	TOTAL	310	1.944	100

Source: AutoWeek.nl; Manufacturers

USA May 2013

The shark-eyed Fusion is starting to see #4 in its sights...

Changes Ahead Edition

Another good sales month for plug-ins in the US, with 7.583 units sold, the second best performance this year, rising the EV share to 0,514%.

The big news is the recovery of the Nr.1 spot by the Nissan Leaf, scoring a second best sales month at 2.138 sales and relegating the Model S to #2, down to 1.800 sales, already preparing itself for the first sales in Europe.

From this summer on, the Model S sales will be divided by several countries and with the production constraints in Tesla's production line, US sales should be limited from now on to some 1.000 units per month, so both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt could surpass it during this year, but even if it does end in third, it's still a commendable position considering it costs twice as much as the direct competition.

Outside the podium, there's another record month for the Fusion Energi (416 units), just 34 units behind its brethren Ford C-Max and closing in at #4 position held by the Prius Plug-In, and there's also the arrival of the 3rd Gen Smart Fortwo ED, now available to the general public and looking to collect a Top 10 spot in the coming months.

Pl	USA	May	YTD	%
1	Tesla Model S	1.800	8.850	27
2	Nissan Leaf	2.138	7.614	23
3	Chevrolet Volt	1.607	7.157	22
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In	678	3.630	11
5	Ford C-Max Energi	450	2.027	6
6	Ford Fusion Energi	416	1.195	4
7	Mitsubishi I-Miev	91	843	3
8	Ford Focus Electric	157	723	2
9	Toyota RAV4 EV	84	366	1
10	Honda Accord Plug-In	58	158	0
11	Fisker Karma	29	95	0
12	Honda Fit EV	15	83	0
13	Smart Fortwo ED	60	62	0
	TOTAL	7.583	32.833	100

Source: insideevs.com