 |
| Another easy win for the Leaf |
Diversification Edition
Finally a significant growth trend in the Irish EV market, with sales up 128% to 588 units, with the EV Share rising to 0.47%, up from the 0.27% of last year and the 0.08% of 2013, the Irish EV market is now firmly living up to expectations, will we see it reach 1% share next year?
For the fith time in a row the Nissan Leaf was crowned the best selling plug-in, this time with a record 405 units sold, way ahead of the competition, while the rest of the podium repeated last year positions, with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (40 sales now vs 25 in '14) in Second and the hot-hatch BMW i3 in Third (35 vs 16).
The important fact to retain from 2015 was the diversification of the market, now with 16 models available, one can say that almost every segment is covered, from the new models arriving, the most striking was the BMW X5 40e PHEV, that despite only landing in October, still managed to collect 10 units and reach #6.
BMW was in fact an active player this year, with a three model line-up and winning the runner-up status in the manufacturers ranking, with 10% share, ahead of the #3 Mitsubishi (7%) and only behind the unattainable Nissan (Consecutive winner since 2011), #1 with 72% share.
PHEV share grew a bit more (2%), now reaching 14%, a new record in this market.
Looking into the future, Nissan will continue to rule in the Emerald Island, although at some point the competition will start to run closer to it. As for total numbers, i would go with some 1.000 units by December 31st, 2016.
| Ireland | 2015 | % |
| Nissan Leaf | 405 | 69 |
| Mitsu. Outlander PHEV | 40 | 7 |
| BMW i3 | 35 | 6 |
| Renault Zoe Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia BMW X5 40e BMW i8 Audi A3 e-Tron | 30 16 10 9 9 | 5 3 2 2 2 |
| VW e-Golf | 8 | 1 |
| Porsche Cayenne PHEV VW Golf GTE Renault Twizy Renault Kangoo ZE Mercedes S500e Tesla Model S Volvo V60 Plug-In | 6 5 5 4 3 2 1 | 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 |
| TOTAL | 588 | 100 |
Source: beepbeep.ie
Wahheey!
ReplyDeleteAnother new year to look forward to! Another year of surprises, and let downs.
I wouldn't make guesses just yet. The cheapest 30kWh LEAF would cost €27,000 after incentives. I'm confident that there are tons of dealers are plastering "250km RANGE LEAF" all over the place on the internet. I'm confident that Nissan themselves are offering a €4,000 scrappage scheme.
I'm not so confident that there's is no advertising of anything! Nevermind BMW or Renault. Especially the latter who only put a poster up for the Kangoo and Twizy 4 years ago. Nissan hasn't said anything about the 30kWh LEAF.
Worse, Mitsubishi (I presume) is being starved of PHEVs. I saw the new Outlander ICEs, but no PHEVs. On Mitsu's site, there's no refreshed Outlander PHEV. They only have the old version of the car with 2016 plates!
That's worrying considering that the Outlander PHEV has been key for many growing plug-in markets. I guess Mitsubishi doesn't see the worth of importing many here.
Last thing. And just asking... Is Ireland the only market where the LEAF held the #1 position for this long? Even the 70% of plug-ins being LEAFs sound crazy now.
Well, don't worry, there are a lot of other countries where the situation is the same.
DeleteEnter Romania... Mitsu Outlander PHEv and Tesla are king and queen of sales here. None are promoted... Tesla have no sale point here and Mitsu dealers have not even bothered to install charging stations at their locations. I'm a very happy owner of an Mitsu and i know at least 8 more owners - all of us made the decision and brought the car based only on our research... point valid for the 3 Tesla owners i know that brought the cars from Austria ( 1 ) and Switzerland (2). There is NO advertising, no info, no banners, no TV ads.
I'm looking to get an EV car for my wife and we consider KIA Soul EV - as Nissan Leaf is not imported here and even if i buy one from Austria there is no service here for it as local Nissan dealer told me to not even bother - the Soul EV is not even on the list of the dealer, they told me to wait 2 days so they can ask in Germany if they can get one here before confirming that it is possible to have-it delivered from there in like 4 months time.
So, basic, as the market here i guess ( wild guess ) is at around 100-150 units per year, the car companies don't even bother to invest in promoting the electric cars. There are literally TONS of normal Outlanders sold and, yes, those are promoted big time - including TV and radio ads...
So bottom line, if you country is not a key sale country, expect beeing ignored for a while. And most of the time, the numbers do not add becouse your car may be listed as sold in Germany ( like our Soul EV if we go for it next week ) and the car maker executive who looks on some charts will just decide to ignore you more.
I've just seen the Romanian sales. Perhaps I should stop whining...
DeleteAnyway, I could totally see your point. It was very odd to see a Volvo V60 plug-in, but it would've been a clear import. Much like the Tesla Model S which aren't eligible for e-car grants because its not officially sold here. But totally understand, begrudgingly, why there's no Kia Soul EV here or there.
Advertising makes a massive difference as a lot of people would have no idea that the LEAF (I know, there's 0 in Romania), ZOE or Outlander PHEV in front of beside them in traffic has electric.
That seems to be the strongest reason why car designers
A lot of people here don't seem to believe that any exist. Not of a normal car size. The lack of distinct advertising doesn't help that. A PHEV model shouldn't be treated as part of a selection of engines in a car. They operate and offer too differently to be rounded up like that.