Greece April 2020

Record Month & 2,6% share!

You didn't saw that coming, did you? In the midst of all the mayhem surrounding Europe in April, with almost continent-wide lockdowns, there was one market where plugins hit a record performance...In Greece, of all places.

With the local overall market falling 80% YoY, to 2,434 units, plugins grew 156% to...64 units. Granted, it is a small number, but it comes in a sequence of several months with three-digit growth rates, so the electric locomotive was set in motion on this market, with April's plugin share hitting an awesome 2,6% result, pulling the 2020 share to 1%.

Seven years after the first BMW i3's reached Greek shores, the market has finally crossed North of the 1% threshold, and i guess it won't take as long to reach 10%...What do you think?

Looking at this year Best Sellers, the BMW i3 recovered its natural spot, it was the country Best Selling EV from 2013 until 2018, when it was relegated to #2 by its stablemate 225xe A. Tourer, thanks to 12 units in April, a new all time record for a single model in Greece, relegating last year Best Seller, the Volvo XC60 PHEV, to the runner-up spot.

The Volvo plugin is now followed by two other plugin hybrids, the #3 Porsche Cayenne PHEV and the #4 BMW X5 PHEV, highlighting the predominance of PHEVs here, with 59% of all plugin sales, while the Peugeot 208 EV closes the Top 5.

BMW has been the Top Dog in Greece since plugin sales started, winning all manufacturer titles from 2013 until last year, when Volvo broke the spell, another proof of the Bavarian maker importance in this market, is the fact that its i3 model represents 1 out 4 plugins in the whole country fleet...

...So it's no wonder BMW willingness to regain the leadership this year, with 29% share, well above Volvo (12%) and Porsche(!), with 9%, while Volkswagen and Land Rover(!) follow closely, both with 8% share each.

Interestingly, Renault seems oblivious of this market, while Nissan's late arrival means that its Leaf isn't a synonym to EV as in other markets (Ireland, Portugal, Hungary), losing that first mover advantage to BMW.