Portugal September 2018 (Updated)

More and more the EV King in Portugal

5,4% Share!

PEV Sales continue on the fast lane in Portugal, growing 119% in September, to 711 units, 67 shy of a new all-time record, but because the mainstream market was down (-14%) due to the previous pre-WLTP sales rush, the market share hit an all time high (5,4% PEV share), pulling the 2018 Plug-in Share to a new record, at 3%, so there's good reasons to be optimistic and even hope for a 3,5% share by year end.

Looking at the fuels mix, this market is known for its diesel-addiction, due to an unbalanced taxation between gasoline (heavily taxed) and diesel (not so much), but even here, these are historic times, with diesel sales down 7%, registering 54% share for the troubled fuel (a year ago, it had 62% share), while all others increased their sales by two digits or more (BEVs are growing at 156% rate). At this rate, i wouldn't be surprised if diesel sales would be dead in Portugal by 2024/25... 

Last month the Nissan Leaf hit a new all time high for a PEV in this market, by delivering 254 units, expect the Japanese hatchback to continue widening the gap to the runner-up Renault Zoe, as Nissan still has a backlog of orders to take care of.

Moving on, the #3 BMW 530e confirms its success as a company car, by registering a record 106 deliveries, despite having a small electric range (Now imagine if it had a decent one - say 50 kms EPA - but i guess fleet buyers value more fiscal incentives than anything else...), while the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV climbed one position, to #7, that thanks to the arrival of the new revised version, it delivered a record 48 units. Will the most popular PHEV in Portugal still have time to end the year in a Top 5 position? I guess it all depends on farmers and the like, that buy these things by the bucket...

Elsewhere, the VW Golf GTE jumped two positions to #16, while the Tesla Model S continues climbing in the Best Sellers ranking, with the Sports Sedan jumping to #17, in what is already the nameplate best year here, with 2018 already being Tesla's record year. After some missteps at the start, it seems the local branch is finally doing the right moves for success.  

According to Best Selling Cars Blog, the Nissan Leaf was #9 in the mainstream ranking, the first Top 10 for an EV here, while the BMW 530e represented 38% of all 5-Series registrations.

In the manufacturers ranking, BMW (24%) is in the leadership, followed by the increasily threatening Nissan (21%), while Renault (14%) is in the last place of the podium.

HEVs + PEVs

Pl	Model	Sept.
1	Nissan Leaf	254
2	Toyota C-HR HEV	209
3	BMW 530e	106
4	Toyota Auris HEV	98
5	Toyota Yaris HEV	92

Once upon a time, regular hybrids (as in, Toyota) used to take the podium positions and plugins would already be Happy if they appeared on the Top 5.

Times have changed, and now we have two PEVs on the podium (#1 and #3), leaving the once dominant Japanese brand with just one model on the medals positions.