Europe May 2017

Merc GLC350e: Europe's new trendy PHEV

Renault Zoe recovers its breath

The European passenger plug-in market had more than 21.000 registrations last month, up 48% over the same month last year. Yeart-date, the market is up 27% this year, with the EV share standing at 1.4%.

With the QC issues solved in the second half of the month, the Renault Zoe was once again Master in Command, with the BMW i3 and Outlander PHEV recovering some ground over the ageing Nissan Leaf.

Looking at the Monthly Models Ranking:

#1 Renault Zoe – With the quality glitches now a thing of the past, the French Zoe was back at its usual self, registering 2.095 units, up 26% YoY, and enough to win for the fifth time in a row the Monthly Best Seller status in Europe. Due to these hiccups, the model performance increased across Europe, like in its home market (1.230 units), or Norway (108), managing to stay relevant in the all-important German market, with 271 units, up 17%.    

#2 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – After a series of depressing months, the Japanese SUV has finally found again its dosage of bright sunshiny days, ending May in Second Place, with 1.842 units, up 28% YoY. Mitsubishi found a new golden nugget to sell its PHEV, the case being Scandinavia, more specifically Norway (343 units) and Sweden (297), so it seems the good ol’ Outlander will continue to be a resident here.

#3 BMW i3 – The German Hot Hatch was up 151%, to 1.629 units, with 3 out 4 units sold being of the BEV variety, a great contrast with what happened 12 months ago, when the Rex variety used to outsell the all-electric version. What extended range does, uh? Anyway, solid results for the BMW model, especially in Norway, with 410 units, all of them being BEV(!), but also in its home Germany (297 registrations). Looking ahead, expect deliveries to slowly drop, as people anticipate the revised version, coming later in the year.

#4 Nissan Leaf – Thanks to deep discounting, the ageing hatch is resisting the newer offerings, reaching Fourth Place, managing even to grow 8% last month to 1.378 units. With steady sales in its stronghold markets (France, UK and Norway) and increasing significantly in Sweden (153 units, up 99%(!) YoY), the veteran model is keeping momentum by appealing to a new demographic, still untapped by EV’s: Bargain Hunters.

#5 Volkswagen Passat GTE – Back at the Top 5, VW’s favorite PHEV company-car recorded 1.170 units last month, its best result since January. The largest markets for the Passat GTE were Norway, with 340 units (Sarcasm mode on - What a surprise!), Sweden (342 units) and Germany (177). With the right mix of space, electric range familiarity, expect this model to continue to be a regular here.

  

YTD Ranking – Zoe Steady in #1

Looking at the YTD ranking, the top positions remained stable (See disclaimer), with the most notable change being the VW Passat GTE surpassing the Tesla Model S and reach the Fifth Spot.

Other models on the rise are the BMW 225xe Active Tourer, now #9, while the VW Golf siblings, the all-electric e-Golf and its PHEV GTE relative, are profiting from the restyled unit deliveries to recover positions, with the GTE now in #14 and the e-Golf #15.

Looking below the Top 20, there are some hot sellers bubbling up, like the recently arrived BMW 530e (397 units, new record), the Opel Ampera-e (Chevrolet Bolt in Euro-Speak), registering 232 deliveries last month and the Toyota Prius PHEV, which had 286 registrations, or the nameplate best European result in four(!) years.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BMW (20%) is comfortably seated on the Top Spot, followed by Renault (13%) in Second Place, while the Third Place is being hardly fought by Nissan (11%), Volkswagen (10%), Tesla and Mercedes, these last two with 9% share. With the Wolfsburg brand now making the restyled Golf plug-ins at full speed, expect it to beat Nissan soon and race Renault for the Second position.

Europe	May	YTD	%
Renault Zoe	2.095	12.957	12
Nissan Leaf	1.378	9.404	9
BMW i3	1.629	8.660	8
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	1.842	8.018	8
VW Passat GTE	1.170	5.374	5
Tesla Model S	899	5.191	5
Mercedes GLC350e	1.105	4.589	4
BMW 330e	712	4.144	4
BMW 225xe Act. Tourer	985	4.063	4
Tesla Model X	741	4.036	4
Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV	359	3.292	3
Audi A3 e-Tron	796	3.083	3
BMW X5 40e	516	2.567	2
VW Golf GTE	878	2.421	2
VW e-Golf	844	2.417	2
Hyundai Ioniq Electric	541	2.146	2
Mercedes C350e	453	1.960	2
Kia Soul EV	249	1.804	2
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	344	1.783	2
Audi Q7 e-Tron	321	1.602	2
Others	3.514	15.377
TOTAL	21.371	104.888

Disclaimer: Due to some data adjustments in the April numbers, some models positioning were subject to changes regarding the previous article.