Sweden November 2018

12% Share in a record month! 

We start November with good news in Sweden, with the local plug-in market up 30% YoY, to a record 3.038 registrations, with the yearly tally growing 46% to 25.979 units, and the 2018 PEV Share at a record 8%, thanks to the 12% share of last month. 

Meanwhile, the mainstream market still hasn't recovered from the pre-WLTP surge, dropping 21% last month.

Add this to the fact that BEV registrations are jumping through the roof, with deliveries jumping 361% YoY, to 1.203 units, while PHEVs accentuated their drop (-12%) in November, and we have another sign of seismic changes currently happening.

Right now buyers are running away from fossil-fueled vehicles (PHEVs included) and going in a stampede-like movement into fully electric ones, but because BEVs are currently production constrained, it seems people prefer to wait in line for a BEV, than to buy/lease another ICE-based vehicle.

This starts to become a trend, because it also happens in Iceland and Norway, whenever a market is regularly at over 10%, the mainstream market starts to suffer and decline, as people move away from regular petrol/diesel vehicles.

Speaking of Diesel, the demise of this fuel continues, with only 34% share of sales last month, a full 9% drop from 12 months ago, when it had 43%. At this pace, diesel sales should be dead by 2022...

Looking at last month Best Sellers, with the end of the line of the VW Passat GTE (84 units, worst result in 34 months), the major beneficiary is the Kia Optima PHEV, that hit a record 415 units last month, winning the month Best Seller award.

But the real surprise came in Second Place, with the Nissan Leaf making its best month of its 7 year career in Sweden, by delivering 388 units, while the #3 Volvo XC60 PHEV also performed a record result, with 320 deliveries.

Another telling tale of the changing environment, is that because their PHEV deliveries are falling off a cliff, Volkswagen was forced to promote the supposedly Norway-only e-Golf, with the German hatchback hitting a record 225 deliveries.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Kia Optima PHEV	415
2	Nissan Leaf	388
3	Volvo XC60 PHEV	320
4	Mit. Outlander PHEV	316
5	VW e-Golf	225

Looking at the 2018 ranking, a few important changes happened, the main news were the Nissan Leaf switching places with the Volvo V60 PHEV, with the Japanese hatchback jumping to #6, while the Swedish Wagon was down to #8. A side effect of this change was the fact that the BEV Best Seller trophy changed hands, with the Nissan Leaf stealing it from its #7 Renault Zoe cousin.

Another significant change benefitted the VW e-Golf, with the VW model jumping four positions to #14, surpassing its PHEV cousin, the #16 Golf GTE.

Hyundai had a great month, with the Ioniq Electric scoring 78 units, its best result since March, while its PHEV sibling just joined the Top 20, at #19.

A final mention to the Kia Niro EV, or e-Niro, that landed with 84 units, a good start that could indicate a successful career for the Korean Crossover in 2019. Hyundai-Kia is rising...

In the manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen (19%, down 1%) lost the leadership to Kia (20%, up 1%) a first for the Korean, while Volvo (16%, down 1%) is sliding down, due to the heavy reliance on short range PHEVs.