Europe June 2017

The e-Golf is coming back

Unbeatable Zoe

The European passenger plug-in market had a near-record month, with 28.000 registrations, up 54% over the same month last year. Year-to-date, the market is up 30% this year, with the EV share now standing at a record 1.5%.

The Renault Zoe is a bit like cyclist Chris Froome, it seems no one can get them out of the Yellow Jersey, with the French hatchback being once again the Best Seller last month, with the Tesla models profiting from their usual last-month-of-quarter peak to climb a couple of positions in the ranking.

 

Looking at the Monthly Models Ranking:

 

#1 Renault Zoe – With the quality glitches now a thing of the past, it was all hands on deck at Renault, with the French Zoe scoring a record 4.189 units, up 73% YoY, enough to win for the sixth time in a row the Monthly Best Seller status in Europe. Or all 2017 trophies…As for Zoe individual performances across Europe, record results were the recurring trend, like in Germany (680 units), Norway (428), Austria (237) or Portugal (112), all while managing to post a positive result at the all-important domestic market, with 1.882 units.    

 

#2 BMW i3 – The German Hot Hatch was up 161%, to 1.634 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 420 units, all of them being BEV, but also in its home Germany (315 registrations). Looking ahead, expect deliveries to slowly drop, as people anticipate the revised version, coming later in the year.

 

#3 Nissan Leaf – Thanks to deep discounting, the ageing hatch is resisting the newer offerings, reaching Third Place, managing even to grow(!) 4% YoY to 1.590 units. With steady sales in its stronghold markets (France, UK and Norway) and increasing significantly in Sweden (123 units, up 112% YoY), the veteran model is keeping momentum by appealing to a new demographic, Bargain Hunters looking for the current best value for the money EV out there.

 

#4 Tesla Model X – Back at the Top 5, the EV Scene favorite SUV recorded 1.552 deliveries last month, managing to outsell for the first time in Europe its Model S brethren. Is the Model 3 long shadow starting to dent the Model S sales? But I digress, back to the Model X, the largest market for the SUV/Minivan-that-thinks-it’s-a-sports-car was Norway, with a record 609 deliveries (Sarcasm mode on – “What a surprise!”), but it also did well in Switzerland (156 units), Germany (136) and the Netherlands (121). With this model not being directly affected by the Model 3 cannibalization effect or by close competition, expect this model to continue to be a regular here, being only limited by its (very) high price.

 

#5 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – After a rare positive month in May, the Japanese SUV is back at the depressing sales trend, ending June 1.435 registrations, down 8% YoY. Mitsubishi found a golden nugget in Scandinavia, more specifically Norway (349 units) and Sweden (271), but in the long run, it remains to be seen if that will be enough to keep the Japanese SUV among Europe’s top sellers.

 

 

YTD Ranking – Zoe reinforces #1, Nissan Leaf climbs to #2.

Looking at the YTD ranking, the top positions remained stable, with the Zoe increasing its lead, with the most notable changes being the Tesla Model S returning to the Fifth Spot and its Model X sibling climbing two positions to #8.

Other models on the rise are Audi A3 e-Tron, up one position to #11, thanks to 943 units, a year best, while the VW e-Golf was Sixth in June, with a record 1409 deliveries, allowing it to jump to #13. Comparing with the PHEV Golf GTE, the new 36kWh super-sized e-Golf BEV outsold it in June in a 2-to-1 ratio, when last year it was the GTE outselling the 24kWh e-Golf on a 2-to-1 ratio.

So, as with the BMW i3, the longer the range of the BEV version, the higher the sales of the all-electric version, consequently dropping the sales of the PHEV version.

Looking below the Top 20, there are some hot sellers bubbling up, like the recently arrived Mini Countryman PHEV (510 units in June, new record), or the Opel Ampera-e (Chevrolet Bolt in Euro-Speak), registering 392 deliveries last month, which is a drop on the ocean of orders that Opel has across the Continent (There are more than 4.000 in Norway alone).

One advice to GM: Instead of producing units mainly to California, only to win dust on local dealerships, why not starting to allocate production for the orders already made in Europe? I know ZEV credits are nice and all that, but there are more ways to win money…And while you are at it, in Canada, South Korea and the rest of the US, there are also buyers waiting for months (Years?) for their Chevy Bolt, you know?

Now is the time to see if The General walks the walk, or if they just talk, talk.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BMW (20%) is comfortably seated on the Top Spot, followed by Renault (14%, up 1%) in Second Place, while the Third Place is being hardly fought by Volkswagen (11%, up 1%), Nissan (10%, down 1%), Tesla and Mercedes, these last two with 9% share. With the Wolfsburg brand now in Third and making the restyled Golf plug-ins at full speed, expect it to race with Renault for the Second position soon.

Pl	Europe	June	YTD	%
1	Renault Zoe	4189	17146	13
2	Nissan Leaf	1590	11007	8
3	BMW i3	1634	10260	8
4	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	1435	9294	7
5	Tesla Model S	1373	6580	5
6	VW Passat GTE	939	6314	5
7	Mercedes GLC350e	1354	5944	4
8	Tesla Model X	1552	5613	4
9	BMW 225xe Act. Tourer	1069	5132	4
10	BMW 330e	881	5032	4
11	Audi A3 e-Tron	943	4026	3
12	Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV	638	3940	3
13	VW e-Golf	1409	3828	3
14	BMW X5 40e	680	3247	2
15	VW Golf GTE	743	3195	2
16	Hyundai Ioniq Electric	529	2664	2
17	Mercedes C350e	351	2310	2
18	Kia Soul EV	422	2214	2
19	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	383	2166	2
20	Audi Q7 e-Tron	417	2019	2
	Others	5588	21225	15
	TOTAL	28119	133156	100