Sweden December 2020

 

VW ID.3 Shines in Record month (49% Share!)

The local plugin market ended the year on fire, jumping 251% YoY, to an amazing 16.929 registrations, its second third 4th record performance in a row, with last month scoring a record 49% share for plugins (19% BEV), ending the 2020 PEV share at 32% (10% BEV), a significant jump over the 11% of 2019, and well above my prediction for this year ("North of 20% share"). 

This time both it was BEVs outpacing PHEVs, with these last ones jumping 222% in December, to 10.337 units, while BEVs (+310%!) had 6.592 registrations, with the plugin split in this year sales ending at 30% for BEVs and 70% PHEVs, with pure electrics dropping 9% regarding 2019, when they had 39% share. 

With plugin hybrids representing over 20% of the total market, maybe now's the time to reduce incentives for PHEVs? Another way, would be to set a minimum electric range for a PHEV to be eligible for subsidies...What do you think?

Looking at the remaining fuel sales in December, HEVs clocked 9% share, versus 5% a year ago, while petrol lost 26% market share(!), now at 24% (it was 50% 12 months ago), while diesel was down 15% in share, to just 18%.  

As such, with PHEVs having 30% of the total sales in December, plugin hybrids were the most popular drivetrain last month, a good sign for the year ahead, which begs the question: At this pace, will diesel will be död by 2022 and petrol in 2023?

Looking at last month Best Sellers, the VW ID.3 stole the show, with an all-time record for a single plugin model of 2.564 registrations in one month, winning not only the PEV Best Seller trophy, but also the leader status in the overall market!

But it wasn't the only BEV to shine, as the Tesla Model 3 ended the month in 3rd, thanks to the expected end-of-quarter high tide. 

With Volvo enjoying some deserved Jul holidays, after all, it had already complied with the EU's CO2 rules before December, it was time for Kia to shine, with two models in the Top 5, with the Kia Ceed PHEV beating its own record by delivering 636 units, while its stablemate Niro PHEV was #5, with 591 units.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	VW ID.3	2.564
2	Volvo XC60 PHEV	818
3	Tesla Model 3	710
4	Kia Ceed PHEV	636
5	Kia Niro PHEV	591

Looking at the 2020 ranking, the top positions remained the same, with Volvo doing a 1-2 win, with the Volvo S/V60 twins winning their first Best Seller title, while their higher riding sibling XC60 PHEV took Silver.

Interestingly, in 2019 the Swedish maker didn't had any model in podium...The 3 times winner (2016/17/18) VW Passat GTE also returned to the podium in 2020, after having dropped to #6 in 2019.

On the other hand, last year Best Seller, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, ended this year race in 9th...Yep, that's disruption happening.

In the last stage of the 2020 race, the Climber of the Month was the VW ID.3, that shooted 12 spots, from #17 to #5, thanks to a Tesla-like peak in December of 2.564 units, allowing it to displace the Tesla Model 3 from the Best Selling BEV throne, something few could predict a month ago.

On the second half of the table we have the BMW 330e climbing two positions, to #13, mostly thanks to the new Touring (station wagon) body, a must if you want to succeed in wagon-loving Sweden, while the Volvo S/V90 PHEV twins recovered the Best Selling full-size trophy in December, after a surprisingly slow month from the Audi e-Tron (has its demand peaked in Sweden?).

The small car category was far less interesting, with the Renault Zoe retaining its hold on the category, despite a significant increase in the number of competitors. 

The Hyundai Kona EV climbed to #18, thanks to a record 368 deliveries, and the good news on the BEV side haven't ended there, as the #17 Nissan Leaf registered its best result in 2 years, with 332 units, most of them being of the 62 kWh version, proving once again that deep discounts do help to move metal...

In December we received a fresh face in the table, with the Toyota RAV4 PHEV climbing to #20, thanks to a record 460 deliveries, and one wonders how high will the plugin Toyota rise in 2021. A Top 10 spot seems like a given, but can it go above it?

Outside the Top 20, we should mention the ramp up of Mercedes, with 4 models (E300e/de - 446 units; GLA250e - 106; EQC - 140; GLE350e/de - 246) scoring record deliveries, with the first of them ending the year in #21, while the last two have beaten their personal best by the #4th time in a row...#MercedesIsRising. 

But it's not only about the German maker, as there were other models shining, like the BMW X3 PHEV (317 units), or the Renault Captur PHEV (182), while the fresh Volvo XC40 EV had 177 deliveries last month.

Another long awaited model is the Skoda Octavia PHEV, that had 259 units in its first full sales month, and should become a strong candidate for a Top 20 spot in 2021, just like its Spaniard cousin, the recent Seat Leon PHEV, that is also running three-digit scores in its first months on the market.

In the manufacturers ranking, Volvo won the title, with 21% share (down 2%), thanks to the success of its PHEV lineup, while the two times winner (2018 & 19) Kia (18%, up 1%) this time had to settle with Silver, and the rising Volkswagen (15%, up 1%) closed the podium, well ahead of Tesla (6%, up 1%).