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SUV-Fest Edition in Record Month
January was record month in Belgium, with 1.047 passenger cars wearing a plug, with the hot sales trend continuing in 2017, with sales up 50% YoY, pulling the EV Share once again to record heights, at 2.08%.
But growth wasn't balanced between BEVs and PHEVs, while the firsts have grown at a 13% rate, the seconds grew at a 59%, to 905 units, or a mammoth 84% of the market. Reminding of someone?...
At this rhythm, i believe it will be a question of time until someone in the Belgian government wakes up for this and cuts PHEV incentives for companies, just like the northern neighbor did recently.
But growth wasn't balanced between BEVs and PHEVs, while the firsts have grown at a 13% rate, the seconds grew at a 59%, to 905 units, or a mammoth 84% of the market. Reminding of someone?...
At this rhythm, i believe it will be a question of time until someone in the Belgian government wakes up for this and cuts PHEV incentives for companies, just like the northern neighbor did recently.
SUV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with 5 out of the top 6 places in January belonging to such vehicles: The Volvo XC90 PHEV (199 units, best result in 11 months) won another Monthly Best-Seller trophy, followed by the arch rival BMW X5 PHEV (138 units) and the surprising Mercedes GLC350e (108 units, personal best), while in #4 we have the fleet-friendly BMW 330e, with 71 units. In #5 we have the Porsche Cayenne Plug-in (67 units), followed by the Audi Q7 e-Tron (60), another model that seems destined for success in this market.
Next to all these shiny, trendy SUV's, the BMW sedan almost looks pedestrian...
Next to all these shiny, trendy SUV's, the BMW sedan almost looks pedestrian...
Looking elsewhere, the Toyota Prius PHEV registered its best result EVER, with 24 units, which could mean that the first demonstration units of the Second Generation have arrived and the local importer is betting heavily in it. On the other hand, the Mercedes C350e (11 units) had its worst result in over a year, no doubt suffering from the arrival of its SUV sibling, the GLC. Another proof that Belgians love SUVs...
In the manufacturers ranking, last year leader BMW started in the leadership, with 34%, while Volvo (20%) ended in Second and Mercedes (16%) in Third.
In the manufacturers ranking, last year leader BMW started in the leadership, with 34%, while Volvo (20%) ended in Second and Mercedes (16%) in Third.
| Pl | Belgium | Jan. | YTD | % | '16Pl | |
| 1 | Volvo XC90 T8 | 199 | 199 | 19 | 1 | |
| 2 | BMW X5 40e | 138 | 138 | 13 | 2 | |
| 3 4 | Mercedes GLC350e BMW 330e | 108 71 | 108 71 | 10 7 | 12 5 | |
| 5 | Porsche Cayenne Plug-In | 67 | 67 | 6 | 3 | |
| 6 | Audi Q7 e-Tron | 60 | 60 | 6 | 10 | |
| 7 | BMW i3 * | 53 | 53 | 5 | 8 | |
| 8 | BMW 225xe Active Tourer | 49 | 49 | 5 | 6 | |
| 9 | 40 | 40 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 10 | BMW 740e | 37 | 37 | 3 | 17 | |
| 11 | Tesla Model X | 35 | 35 | 3 | 16 | |
| 12 13 13 15 16 17 18 19
19
| Nissan Leaf Mercedes GLE500e Toyota Prius PHEV Volkswagen Passat GTE Renault Zoe Mercedes S500e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Mercedes E350e BMW i8 | 27 24 24 21 16 15 14 12 12 | 27
24
24
1421 16 15 12 12 | 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 | 7 9 24 13 14 25 15 N/A
20
| |
| 21
22
23 | Mercedes C350e
Audi A3 e-Tron
Volvo V60 Plug-In | 11 10 8 | 11 10
8
| 1 1
1
|
11
19
18
| |
24
2526 27 28 28 28 28
28
| Mercedes B250e Hyundai Ioniq Electric Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Porsche Panamera Plug-In Citröen e-Mehari Volkswagen e-Golf Kia Soul EV Peugeot iOn
Volksvagen Golf GTE
|
7
5 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 |
7
5
4 2 1 1 1 1 1 | 1
0
0
0
0
0
0
00 |
23
35
21
27
34
29
30
31
22
| |
| TOTAL | 1.047 | 1.047 | 100 |
Source: FEBIAC
* - 31 Bev + 22 Rex
* - 31 Bev + 22 Rex
What do you think about this top six plug-in vehicles? For sure SUVs are big, heavy and fundamentally inefficient vehicles. So what are we looking at? Is it great that this particular category of ccars come with a plug for clean city driving? Is the electric range long enough that you care to plug in? Is the electric range so short that you couldn't care to plug in, but the hybrid part is great to have for lower on-the-paper CO2 emission and tax benefits?
ReplyDeleteGood questions, if they are indeed plugged-in, then it is no doubt a great way to improve emissions, but if people users don't bother to plug in and just use them as a regular hybrid, then it's just a question tax incentives.
DeleteMy personal experience, from the people i know, says that private people that bought plug-in hybrids with their own money use them in electric mode as much as they can, while company cars that are handed over to employees are at best charged at home, while others have even never saw a plug...