Thursday, September 17, 2020

France August 2020




Koreans shine in Slow Selling Month

With the overall automotive market back in the Dog House (-20% in August), plugin sales continue immune to the surrounding doom and gloom, with PHEVs (up 269%, to 5,266 units) faring better than BEVs, up only 167%, to 5,590 registrations, allowing plugin hybrids to have 49% of the plugin market last month, above this year average (35%), and quite possibly the highest share ever by plugin hybrids, in this traditionally BEV-friendly market. 

Nevertheless, looking at this year French market fuels split, there are are already some disruptive market share changes, with petrol down 9% in share regarding the same period last year, to 50%, diesel is also down, albeit a more moderate 3%, to 31%, to the profit of all electrified categories, starting with HEVs, up 4%, from the 5% of last year, to the current 9%, passing by PHEVs that now have 3.3% of the market (reaching 5.1% last month), and ending with the 6% of BEVs (5.4% in August), allowing the 2020 PEV share to be at a record 9.3% (10.5% last month), which is a whole different level from the 2.8% of 2019. 

Expect the numbers to improve slightly in the remainder of the year, with the 2020 tally possibly even reaching 10%, which would not only be a great achievement, but also the prelude for the #Disruption '21 - French Edition

Looking at last month Best Sellers, the top 2 were the usual local heroes, but below them, we have last month Best Selling Foreigner, the Kia Niro EV, that despite August being the slowest selling month in France, managed to score a record month(!), with 620 deliveries, allowing the Korean crossover to reach its first first monthly medal in France. 

The remaining positions went for the Peugeot 3008 PHEV, #4 with 583 registrations, while the 5th position went for the Hyundai Kona EV, that thanks to the increased availability coming from the Czech production, allowed Hyundai-Kia to place two models in the French Top 5.


Pl
Model
Sales  
1
Renault Zoe
1,618
2
Peugeot 208 EV
697
3
Kia Niro EV
620
4
Peugeot 3008 PHEV
583
5
Hyundai Kona EV
520

Looking at the 2020 ranking, while the top 2 remain unattainable, the last position in the podium can still change hands, while the 3rd placed Peugeot 3008 PHEV has finally distanced itself, in the PHEV category, from its DS 7 PHEV arch-rival, the #4 Tesla Model 3 can still steal the Bronze medal from the French crossover, with 369 units separating both models, and the Californian expecting to have a high tide next month, we could see it overcome the difference and surpass the high-riding Pug

Outside the podium, a mention for the Koreans Hyundai Kona EV and Kia Niro EV, as the Hyundai model is now just 6 units beind the #5 DS 7 PHEV, so it should surpass the French SUV next month, while the Kia also has a shot at surpassing the DS plugin hybrid in September, especially if it continues to score record performances

On the second half of the table we have the only position changes of the month, with the Mercedes GLC300e climbing to #12, switching positions with the now retired Citroen C-Zero dinosaur, while the rising star Volvo XC40 PHEV climbed another position, now staying at #14.

A surprise appearance on the table is the VW Golf GTE, that joined the table at #20, displacing the BMW i3. This is still the Golf VII body, not the new Golf VIII, which means this end-of-career peak could only be possible by fire-sale prices, something we knew Volkswagen had been doing in the past few months with the e-Golf BEV, but apparently that was also the case with Golf GTE, at least in France. 

But this should be a temporary presence, in fact, there are two other models less than 100 units behind the VW hatchback, as the #21 BMW i3 is just 17 units behind, while its British cousin, the Mini Cooper EV, is #22, with 1,025 units, and the Mini hot hatch is on the rise, having scored a record 244 units performance in August.  

Speaking of future new entries to the Top 20, we should mention the #23 Opel Corsa EV, that scored 157 registrations in August, and the #24 Mercedes A250e, that is less than 200 units from the Top 20 and had 260 deliveries last month, highlighting Mercedes good moment, not only the GLC300e is on the rise, but the A250e has also good perspectives to reach the Top 20 soon, not mentioning the strong landings in August of the CLA250e (118 deliveries) and the B250e (81). Amazingly, Mercedes is currently the Best Selling German brand in the French plugin market...

Speaking of which...In the brands ranking, the leader is, as always, Renault (25%), with Peugeot (21%) firm in the 2nd spot, while a sliding DS (5%, down 1%) is in the 3rd spot, just ahead of Tesla (also 5%). 



8 comments:

  1. Excellent summary!
    Will you also inform Citroën Ami numbers in the future?
    Hope numbers are available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is something i would like to know too, maybe Avere France adds that bit of info to their monthly reporting.

      Delete
  2. Nice to see a big 10K + sales. Sad to see a 20% drop in overall sales. Had they told of human to human transmission, this whole pandemic could have been avoided.

    Anyway, Zoe remains big on French turf, seems ID.3 will starts its tally in September. Lets see how Zoe, ID.3 and Model 3 play it out in super sep.

    Will plugin hybrids out do the BEVs in Europe or the ramp up in ID.3 sales will restore the leadership of BEVs.

    Meanwhile VW group is selling Bugatti to Rimac. This is very good news on 3 counts.
    1. It makes much better sense to buy a Model S Ludicrous at $140 K, seat 5 passengers and also does 0-100 km/h in 2.3 seconds. Compare this with bugatti which costs $3 million, seats 2 and does 0-100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. A win for BEV.
    2. VW is going to focus on commercializing BEVs instead of selling ultra expensive car for a few ultra rich.
    3. Only VW which makes fat profits can sustain, but not the Rimac, so soon they will close bugatti. Its the only 16 cylinder engine vehicle and end of it may mean declining interest in cylinder craziness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When i read the "Rimac buys Bugatti" news, my immediate thought was: "Why?!?! It's like Tesla buying BMW!"

      But looking at the details, things are more interesting, yes Rimac buys Bugatti, but in exchange, Porsche (or, the VW Group) gets 49% of Rimac...

      So, all in all, it's a win-win-win-win situation:

      - Rimac, which is the Bugatti of the EV World, gets the storied brand, winning visibility and scale;

      - Bugatti gets access to Rimac's cutting edge technology, thus embracing a post-Chiron EV Revolution age from the top, which is where Bugatti belongs;

      - Volkswagen Group, through Porsche, keeps an important stake in Bugatti, while at the same time ditches the CO2 burden of the brand;

      - Finally, this is good news for the EV Revolution, because it means that the highly polluting Bugatti will go 100% BEV in the next few years, after all, Rimac only does BEVs.

      Delete
  3. So sad to see C-Zero go... Shall we have an obituary?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Later in the year, next to the BMW i8 :)

      Delete
  4. Conflicting news. On 1 side VW says that they will catch up to Tesla in 2023.
    Now
    "In the interview, Brandstätter said that VW plans to sell 1.5 million electric cars per year by 2025"

    Is VW expecting Tesla to sell only 1.5 million vehicles by 2025. Is Tesla not supposed to sell 1.5 million by 2023 itself presuming Fremont, Shanghai, Berlin and Austin are functioning.

    https://electrek.co/2020/09/17/vw-plans-sell-id-4-electric-cars-per-year/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Volkswagen, the brand.

      Add Audi, Seat, Skoda, etc and the total gets significantly bigger.

      Delete