Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Netherlands April 2021



Skoda Enyaq lands in hot market (21% share!)

The Dutch PEV market continues on the fast lane, with 5,090 plugin registrations, placing last month PEV Share at 21% (10% BEV), pushing the year to date PEV share to 17% (6.6% BEV), which is still down on last year result (25%), but already above with the 2019 score (15%), and expect this year result to continue growing throughout the year, as term of comparison, in April 2020, the YTD share was at 12%, which could mean that if witness this year another strong end of year peak, we should see the plugin share end North of the 30%...Not bad, eh?

Breaking down registrations between each plugin powertrain, BEVs continue to recover ground, having 47% of April's registrations, and YTD, they are now responsible for 40% of plugin sales, a 3% recovery regarding March, but they are still far from the 82% share of 2020, expect pure electrics to continue recovering ground throughout the year, but one thing looks certain, with BEVs gradually losing their fiscal incentives year after year, plugin hybrids are recovering their space in the market, highlighting just how sensitive to incentives the plugin market still is.

In April, the leader was the Kia Niro EV, scoring its first win since last July, this time with 359 units, but the true sensation of the month was the Skoda Enyaq landing with a bang, with its first 353 registrations in the Netherlands, allowing it to climb immediately to the runner-up spot in April, just 6 units behind the Korean crossover, while on the overall ranking, the Czech station-wagon-in-desguise was 11th. Not bad for a landing month...

The truth is that the new Skoda model so far seems like the most competitive MEB-based EV (sorry, ID.3 and ID.4...), with competitive pricing, more space and practicality than its VW relatives, it's no surprise that there rumours saying that Skoda is looking to increase the 70,000 production mark for 2021, in order to cope with demand.

"The Force is strong with you, young Enyaq" - Said Master Yoda...

Just outside the podium, in 4th place we have the Ford Kuga PHEV in peak form (304 units, new record), while for once Mitsubishi had reasons to celebrate, with the new Eclipse Cross PHEV showing up in #9, in its first full sales month, while the veteran Outlander PHEV was #13.

Interestingly, and a sign of where the market is heading, all Top 9 Best Sellers are either crossovers or SUVs, with the best positioned "car" (Peugeot 208 EV) only showing up in #10.

And looking below, there are only three other "cars" in this Top 20, the #13 Volvo S/V60 PHEV, the #17 Polestar 2 and the #20 BMW i3, thus making 4 cars vs 16 crossover / SUVs.

Now, let that sink in...

Speaking of the second half of the table, we had a few surprises there, like the #19 spot of the Mercedes EQA, in only its second month on the market, while the BMW i3 came back from a long absence, into #20, which could mean that we might see an interesting duel between these two compact EVs. 

Outside the Top 20, April witnessed the arrival of two very different models, with Ford celebrating the landing of its much antecipated Mustang Mach-E (58 units), while after many months (years) of promises, we finally witness the landing in Europe of Geely's post-modern (ahem * hipster * ahem...) brand, Lynk & Co, with the first 66 registrations of its plugin hybrid SUV, the 01




Looking at the 2021 ranking, if the leader Volvo XC40 PHEV remains untouchable, for now at least, below it there is much to talk about, with the Kia Niro EV benefiting from a strong April to jump 7 spots, into the 2nd place, reafirming its podium pretensions, while the Ford Kuga PHEV climbed to 3rd, and the Volvo XC40 EV was up 5 spots, to #6, and with the #2 Kia Niro EV just 207 units ahead, we might even see a 1-2 lead from Volvo here...

And don't forget the #8 Tesla Model 3 peak performances, so we still have several candidates to the top positions, and once again, only one of them (Tesla Model 3) is not a crossover or SUV, which speaks volumes of the current market trends, and of course, of the tremendous potential that the Tesla Model Y has in Europe. 

On the second half of the table, a mention to the Skoda Enyaq joining the table in #14 right in its landing month, so the Czech EV seems destined to higher grounds (Top 5?), while the BMW iX3 was also on the rise, having climbed to #16, up two spots from its previous standing, in March.

Another BEV set to join the table soon is the #21 Peugeot 208 EV (271 units), although it might be at the expense of its French arch rival, the #20 Renault Zoe...     

In the manufacturers ranking, Volvo (16%, down 1%) is the Number One brand, with BMW (14%) in the runner-up position, while a distant Volkswagen (6%, up 1%) closes the podium, ahead of Kia (5%, up 1%).




18 comments:

  1. >"The Force is strong with you, young Enyaq" - Said Master Škoda...

    Fixed that for you :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the precious help, i had mixed up Master Yoda with its younger brother, Master Skoda... :D

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMay 18, 2021

    S3X from Tesla isn't selling in the Netherlands

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  3. Maarten VinkhuyzenMay 18, 2021

    There is still a large overhang of vehicles registered in December but not sold to end customers. When I pass a VW dealer a dozen or more ID.3 on the front row of the parking lot is not uncommon.

    The BEV market is still screwed by the December registrations to avoid EU fines.

    We have a parts supply problem that effects some models more than others.
    We have unsold but registered inventory.
    We have Covid-19 lockdown intervening with the normal flow of business.

    Oh, how I long for the simple market as it was in 2018 - 2019. Just the Tesla quarterly peaks and the end-of-year rush.

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    1. At Volkswagen.nl ID3 is still available with last year's tax reduction.

      What's wrong with this vehicle?
      Will the stock last till December?
      Maybe lowering prices will help.

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    2. @Maarten - paraphrasing The Doors, in Strange Days:

      "Strange days have found us"

      Delete
  4. AnonymousMay 18, 2021

    S/X haven't been in production for the last quarter, and Tesla usually sells most of their vehicles in the last month of each quarter (as they are in transit across the Atlantic in the first half of the quarter). You have to look at longer-term trends.

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    1. I would guess the "S3X not selling" comment is also a witty reference to a more infamous dutch industry. It is however true that Tesla has sold very little in the Netherlands this year. Less than 500 so far is by far the weakest year they've had since they started in 2017.

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    2. Sales at the beginning of each year for models that haven't been in short supply the last year are always miniscule in this market, because of the yearly incentive step-downs. The beginning of one year being even more miniscule than another is unlikely to be indicative of anything meaningful...

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  5. The prevalence of plug-in SUVs/CUVs in this market is unsurprising, considering that combustion models of this type are levied with heavy taxes, while plug-ins are entirely or almost entirely exempted. The incentive isn't nearly as strong with "traditional" cars.

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  6. The i3 is *way* smaller than the EQA -- it's an entirely different class. There is not duel.

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  7. Skoda Enyaq is part of the VW group and shares the same platform as ID4. What really strikes me is the underperformance of Tesla, which lags in YTD sales worldwide. Urgent action is required.

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    1. LOL, "lags in YTD sales worldwide"... Right, they only grew a bit over 100% YoY in Q1. Terrible!

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    2. haha my thoughts exactly. How someone manages to write such nonsense...

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  8. Ford Mach-e looks like it will rock Q2.
    Who would have thought that?

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    1. Who wouldn't? Ever since the unveiling, it has been regarded as one of the most promising (if not *the* most promising) near-term EV entrants from a legacy maker...

      (Though I'd say that in the mean time Ioniq 5 has taken over that distinction...)

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    2. One thing that i like on the Mustang Mach E, besides the range, is that is has personality, it says something, unlike other "appliance vehicles", which is the majority of the market, including EVs, on the road.

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  9. AnonymousMay 19, 2021

    Tesla shares not worthy $600

    ReplyDelete