Thursday, January 16, 2020

Portugal December 2019

The EV King in Portugal


Nissan Leaf holds on to the Best Seller title

PEV Sales were on the fast lane in 2019, growing 54% regarding 2018, to 12.703 units (1.354 units in December alone, only 4 less than the record set last October), allowing the 2019 market share to hit a new all time high (5,7% PEV share, 7,5% in December alone). Will we see it reach 10% in 2020?

After winning in 2018, the Nissan Leaf had to work extra-time to keep the 2019 models title, as the Tesla Model 3 finished just 119 behind, forcing the Japanese hatchback to hit a new all time high for a plugin in this market, with 1.662 units, being its 5th title, after the 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2018 awards.

This time, the Renault Zoe was relegated to #3, seeing its sales drop 26% YoY, all because of the hiccups deved from the recent restyling. 

Outside the podium, the company car market is making itself felt, with the #4 Mercedes E300e/de twins being the (not so) surprise winner of the PHEV category, adding it to the Luxury car trophy, beating its arch rival, the #5 BMW 530e, that must have been suffering from internal competition from its smaller sibling, the new 330e, that ended in 6th.

But the BMW Group didn't ended there, as the small and spicy BMW i3 ended the year rising to #7, thanks to a record performance of 102 deliveries, an impressive result for a model that is over six-years old, while in #9 we have the Mini Countryman PHEV and in #10 the BMW 225xe Active Tourer, making it 5 models from the Group in the Top 10!

Elsewhere, a mention to the last minute climbs of the Mercedes C300e/de twins, to #14, with the Volvo S/V60 PHEV twins also doing the same, in this case to #15.

With 4 midsize cars on the Top 20, one can say: #company cars rule.

Finally, a reference to the Porsche Cayenne PHEV joining the table in the last minutes, in #20, displacing the Smart Forfour EV.  

Funny enough, Porsche's SUV was the best selling plugin coming from the VW Group, doubling the registrations of the VW e-Golf! Imagine that!

In the manufacturers ranking, BMW (21%, up 2%) won its fourth title in a row, with Tesla (16%, up 1%) in Second Place, while Nissan (13%, down 1%) won the last place of the podium.

Interestingly, the best selling brand outside the podium was Mercedes(!), with 10% share, with the local importer seeing its efforts in the company car segment being rewarded with a #4 spot, ahead of Renault, with 8%.




Finally, looking at 2020, the Tesla Model 3 should continue go after the Best Seller title, probably reaching 2,000 units, while one wonders if the Nissan Leaf will have enough life in it to run at the same pace as the Californian.

Expect also the Renault Zoe to recover sales and the BMW 330e to become the new darling of the company car audience, possibly pulling it into the PHEV leadership and maybe even a podium position.


Midsize Car Best Sellers

Pl
Model
2019
Sales  
1
BMW 3-Series
2.216
2
Mercedes C-Class
2.156
3
Tesla Model 3
1.543
4
BMW 4-Series
1.172
5
Peugeot 508
1.131

The Tesla Model 3 is only 3rd, behind the moderately electrified BMW 3-Series (29% of registrations coming from the PHEV version) and Mercedes C-Class (15%)
Outside the podium, we have the unplugged BMW 4-Series and Peugeot 508, and with this last model weeks away from starting delivering its PHEV versions, expect soon the 4-Series to be the only unchargable model here.


Midsize SUV Best Sellers

Pl
Model
2019
Sales  
1
Mercedes GLC
1.004
2
Volvo XC60
858
3
Mitsubishi Outlander
706
4
Jaguar i-Pace
540
5
BMW X3
489

This SUV category is moderately electrified, although we still have the unplugged Mercedes GLC on top, with the BMW X3 closing the Top 5the #3 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (64% of all Outlander registrations) and the #2 Volvo XC60 (41% of sales belonged to the PHEV version), along the fully electric Jaguar i-Pace make a majority of pluggable models here.

With the BMW X3 PHEV said to land soon, and the VW ID.4x, among others, landing throughout the year, we could see a fully electrified Top 5 sometime next year. 


Full size Car Best Sellers

Pl
Model
2019
Sales  
1
Mercedes E-Class
1.733
2
BMW 5-Series
1.643
3
Volvo S/V90
317
3
Audi A6
317
5
 Tesla Model S
243

In the full size car category, electrification is pretty advanced, not only we have the fully electric Tesla Model S in 5th, but also the two front runners have a large degree of electrification, with the leader Mercedes E-Class owing 50% of its sales from its plugin versions, while the #2 BMW 5-Series has 45% of registrations belonging to the PHEV version, and even the #3 Volvo S/V90 twins (41%) has a significant degree of electrification.

With the Audi A6 soon to be electrified and the Porsche Taycan landing in a few months, this segment is sure to continue being on the forefront of electrification.


Full size SUV Best Sellers

Pl
Model
2019
Sales  
1
LR Range Rover Sport
225
2
Porsche Cayenne
207
3
Volvo XC90
198
4
Tesla Model X
193
5
BMW X5
160

The full size SUV category seems to be the most advanced segment when it comes to electrification, not only we have 1 BEV nameplate in the top 5 positions (#4 Tesla Model X), but we have also a fully electrified Top 5, with the podium bearers having a large degree of electrification (82% for the Range Rover Sport, 76% for the Cayenne, 44% for the XC90).

Add this to the fact that the #5 BMW X5 (6%) is still ramping up production of its interesting PHEV version, and the electrification rate should only go higher. And don't forget the incoming Mercedes GLE PHEV, with 100 kms electric range and fast charging is also coming soon!

These are surely welcome news in one of the most polluting vehicle segments.

6 comments:

  1. Hello Jose,

    I can see Portugal is well ahead of richer countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain (comparing GDP and minimum wages). What is the reason behind the fast PEV acceptance in Portugal? Are there any significant incentives for PEV cars or is it self consciousness?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are a number of explanations:

      1 - Local buyers tend to be early adopters, back in 2008, Nissan did a study in Europe, trying to identify 2nd line markets where EVs would be big, so that the brand would be ahead of the curve in those countries. 3 countries were chosen: Portugal, Ireland and Hungary. What lead Portugal to be included there was the high adoption rate of cell phones and IT in general, and the high share of hybrid car sales (The Honda Civic Hybrid was among the Best Selling models, back in the day);

      2 - The company car segment among plugins is significant, because they can get VAT back, which makes a number of models really competitive, price-wise. That is why the BMW 530e and Mercedes E300e/de are such a sucess, as they are the most expensive models to have access to VAT recovery. (There is a price cap on incentives);

      3 - What is really surprising for me, is the success that luxury models like the Tesla Model S/X, Range Rover Sport PHEV and Porsche Cayenne PHEV are having, as these models do not have access to the VAT reimbursement. In this case the only incentive is that they not heavily taxed (taxes are according to CO2 emissions) as regular ICE models are, allowing for competitive pricing.

      Delete
  2. Congrats José! As in December 2018 you had predicted some 1.400 Tesla model 3 deliveries for 2019. The Zoé is a delusion with only these some 1.000 cars it is half what you predicted.
    Our government should end this "first 1.000 EV cars sold" for the rebates and, at least, putting this cap at 10.000, even if they have to increase the taxes on diesel new sold cars higher.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Our government should end this "first 1.000 EV cars sold" for the rebates and, at least, putting this cap at 10.000, even if they have to increase the taxes on diesel new sold cars higher" - your words are mine, too!

      Delete
  3. Portugal is providing great leadership to other, wealthier European countries lagging in EV adoption.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Despite finishing as the leader in sales, the Nissan Leaf performed mildly compared to last year, although the partner Zoe fared even worse, thus leading to the Tesla Model 3, Jaguar I-Pace and Hyundai Kona EV the true performers on the EV side. Elsewhere, in the PHEV market, the Mercedes-Benz and BMW models show consistent results, allowing both carmakers to emerge in a good final standing.

    From the published data, 2019 carmaker standings are:

    1st Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance with 3078 vehicles
    2nd BMW Group with 2973 vehicles
    3rd Tesla with 1979 vehicles
    4th Daimler with 1440 vehicles
    5th Jaguar Land Rover with 724 vehicles

    ReplyDelete