VW Passat GTE impresses during Summertime Chill Season
This article is being simultaneously published on CleanTechnica & EV Obsession.
The European EV market
had more than 13.000 registrations last month, down 4% over July
2015, the slowdown in sales are more visible on the BEV side, now that buyers
are waiting for the upcoming long-range models. Nevertheless, the market is set
to surpass the 200.000 units by year end.
Looking at the Monthly
Ranking:
#1 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – Despite the
Japanese SUV being the Best Seller in July, with 1.490 units, the fact is that its sales have dropped 14% YoY, this
being the fifth month in a row of slowing sales. Talk about bittersweet
victory... Although growing in important markets, like Norway or Sweden,
Mitsubishi hasn’t found a way to replace the average 300-400 units/month it had
last year in the Dutch market and to stop the sales bleeding in the UK. Is
Mitsubishi’s star product becoming passé?
#2 VW Passat GTE – Thanks to Sweden and
Norway, big time Passat GTE buyers, Volkswagen’s midsize offering reached the Second
Position, its highest ranking ever, with 1.178
units, its best score this year. With the right mix of space, practicality,
low carbon emissions and power, the Passat GTE is destined for success as
company car for middle managers.
#3 Renault Zoe – The French hatch sales
went back to black, in July, with registrations up 16% YoY to 1.135 units. With Germany compensating
for the seasonal slowdown of its domestic market, the French hatchback is enjoying
the summer break to chill and return en
force in September, preparing itself for the big Renault-Nissan Alliance product
showdown at the Paris Auto Show…
#4 Volkswagen Golf GTE – The (not so)
surprise of the month, VW’s sporty hatch
returned to the Top 5, reaching #4, with 834
units, but sales are down 52% YoY, with last year result inflated by the
Netherlands and currently suffering from internal competition from its Passat
GTE larger sibling, the plug-in hybrid version of Europe’s Best Selling car will
have a hard time in the near future, especially when the longer range VW e-Golf
lands.
#5 Nissan Leaf – Sales of the Japanese
hatch were down 25% in July, to 805
units, its worst performance of the year, with registrations dropping
across the continent. In normal circumstances, Nissan would be worried and
would try to pull some tricks to turn things around, but this time, the
Japanese brand is just keeping production at minimal levels to avoid big unsold
stocks, waiting for the big EV Push to
be made by the Alliance at the Paris Auto Show.
YTD Ranking
Looking at the YTD
ranking, this month there was only one significant change, with the VW Passat
GTE jumping to #6, looking enviously to the Fifth Position of its Golf GTE
relative.
But the race for
#5 will also be made by the BMW i3, once the expected tsunami of 33kWh units arrives.
In the midst of
the Summertime Chill season, besides the Passat GTE, other two models outside
the Top 20 also did their best, the Mercedes GLE500e had 136 units registered,
its best performance ever, while the Audi Q7 e-Tron did even better, with 352 deliveries,
by far its best month to date, already pulling it to #13 in the July ranking.
(Un)Coincidentally,
both are Big Luxury SUV’s, something that seems to be the Trend du Jour these days.
Looking at the manufacturers
ranking, the trophy bearer, Volkswagen (16%) has managed to keep Renault (15%)
at bay, while the increasingly menacing BMW (13%) is just waiting for the 33
kWh i3 to arrive, in order to reach the Top Two.
Pl
|
Europe
|
July
|
2016
|
%
|
'15Pl
|
1
|
Renault Zoe
|
1.135
|
13.007
|
12
|
2
|
2
|
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
|
1.490
|
12.614
|
11
|
1
|
3
|
Nissan Leaf
|
805
|
11.659
|
10
|
5
|
4
|
Tesla Model S
|
567
|
7.469
|
7
|
4
|
5
6
|
Volkswagen Golf GTE
Volkswagen Passat GTE
|
834
1.178
|
6.519
5.900
|
6
5
|
3
12
|
7
|
Volvo XC90 T8
|
718
|
5.740
|
5
|
18
|
8
|
BMW i3
|
561
|
5.455
|
5
|
6
|
9
|
Mercedes C350e
|
752
|
4.872
|
4
|
11
|
10
11
|
Volkswagen e-Golf
Audi A3 e-Tron
|
495
398
|
4.384
3.813
|
4
3
|
4
7
|
12
13
14
|
BMW X5 40e
BMW 330e
BMW 225xe Active Tourer
|
310
419
350
|
2.932
2.752
2.501
|
3
2
2
|
22
37
32
|
15
|
Renault Kangoo ZE
|
274
|
2.224
|
2
|
13
|
16
|
Kia Soul EV
|
264
|
2.118
|
2
|
10
|
17
|
Volvo V60 Plug-In
|
263
|
1.887
|
2
|
9
|
18
19
20
|
Mercedes B250e
Porsche Cayenne Plug-In
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia
|
172
191
194
|
1.725
1.680
1.611
|
2
1
1
|
17
14
15
|
|
TOTAL
|
13.104
|
112.144
|
|
|
