Belgium October 2017

BMW shines in Hot Market

Another positive month in October, with Belgians registering 1.153 passenger PEVs, up 27% YoY, pulling the EV Share to a record 2.7%.

Too bad then that PHEV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with 82% of all PEV registrations being Plug-in hybrids, owning the top seven positions.

Belgians continue fancying premium plug-in hybrid SUV's, with the podium positions occupied by three models from that category, as the Volvo XC90 PHEV changed places with the BMW 225xe Act.Tourer, with the Swede now wearing the Bronze Medal.

The BMW 530e is now #5 and it won't be surprising to see it knock on #3 by year end, while the  Second Generation Porsche Panamera PHEV, #2 in October with 109 deliveries, climbed to #7.

Two recently arrived SUV's are jumping positions, with the Mini Countryman PHEV now #13, thanks to 69 deliveries, while the Volvo XC60 PHEV went up seven positions, now at #23.

With talks of PHEV incentives ending next year, we could see a PHEV sales surge in the last two months of the year, following the path that neighboring Holland did already...

In the manufacturers ranking, last year winner BMW is steady in the leadership, with 35%(!) share, while Mercedes (19%) benefits from the popularity of its midsize GLC SUV to be Second, and the Third Placed is being hardly fought between Porsche and Volvo, both with 9% share, and Tesla (8%).

Pl	Belgium	Oct.	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Mercedes GLC350e	164	1.626	13	12
2	BMW X5 40e	69	1.245	10	2
3 4 5	Volvo XC90 PHEV BMW 225xe Active Tourer BMW 530e	86 45 83	749 728 705	6 6 6	1 6 N/A
6 7	BMW 330e Porsche Panamera PHEV	36 109	690 555	6 5	5 20
8	BMW i3	71	519	4	8
9	Tesla Model S	18	499	4	4
10 11	Audi Q7 e-Tron Porsche Cayenne PHEV	43 26	497 435	4 4	10 3
12	Tesla Model X	27	423	4	16
13	Mini Countryman PHEV	69	379	3	N/A
14 15	Nissan Leaf BMW 740e	14 24	376 309	3 3	7 17
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23	Renault Zoe Mercedes GLE500e Mercedes C350e Volkswagen Passat GTE Mercedes E350e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Toyota Prius PHEV Volvo XC60 PHEV	19 14 14 28 12 14 13 52	246 223 206 204 133 127 110 104	2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1	14 9 11 13 N/A 15 24 N/A
24 24 26	Audi A3 e-Tron Volkswagen e-Golf Volkswagen Golf GTE	9 3 15	101 101 99	1 1 1	19 21 22 18
27 28 29 30	Volvo S/V90 PHEV Mercedes S500e Volvo V60 Plug-In Hyundai Ioniq Electric Others	18 1 4 2 51	96 83 63 54 338	1 1 1 0 3	N/A 25 18 35
	TOTAL	1.153	12.023	100

Belgium July 2017

I'll get you, Merc GLC...

BMW shines in Hot Market

Another great month in July, with Belgians registering 1.179 passenger car PEVs, up 118% YoY, while pulling the EV Share to a record 2.4%.

Too bad then that PHEV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with 82% of all PEV registrations being Plug-in hybrids, having all top seven positions in the ranking.

Anyway, the BMW X5 PHEV is Second and running hard to displace the Mercedes GLC350e from the leadership, while other BMW's are also shining, with five Bavarian models in the Top 8.

The recently arrived 530e is now #6 and it won't be surprising to see it knock on #3 by year end, while the 225xe Active Tourer changed places with its 330e sibling, with the MPV now wearing the Bronze Medal.

Last, but not least, the Second Generation Porsche Panamera PHEV made seismic waves in July, recording a record 162 registrations in its first full sales month, becoming the Best Seller in July and representing 97%(!) of all Panamera sales that month.

Will the German Sports Sedan become Belgium's next success story?

In the manufacturers ranking, last year winner BMW is steady in the leadership, with 38%(!) share, while Mercedes (19%, up 1%) benefits from the popularity of its midsize GLC SUV to be Second, with the Third Placed now being hardly fought between Volvo (9%), Tesla (8%) and the rising powerhouse, Porsche (7%).

Pl	Belgium	July	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Mercedes GLC350e	132	1.113	13	12
2	BMW X5 40e	106	1.045	12	2
3 4 5	BMW 225xe Active Tourer BMW 330e Volvo XC90 PHEV	72 56 56	591 579 565	7 7 7	6 5 1
6 7	BMW 530e Audi Q7 e-Tron	97 30	459 389	5 5	N/A 10
8	BMW i3	39	378	4	8
9	Tesla Model S	19	366	4	4
10 11	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Nissan Leaf	26 17	362 316	4 4	3 7
12	Tesla Model X	17	313	4	16
13	BMW 740e	22	247	3	17
14 15	Porsche Panamera PHEV Renault Zoe	162 26	246 195	3 2	20 14
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23	Mini Countryman PHEV Mercedes GLE500e Mercedes C350e Volkswagen Passat GTE Mercedes E350e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Toyota Prius PHEV Audi A3 e-Tron	86 25 44 15 7 14 8 10	173 163 148 127 101 95 76 73	2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1	N/A 9 11 13 N/A 15 24 19
24 25 26	Mercedes S500e Volkswagen Golf GTE Volvo V60 Plug-In	13 9 2	66 65 59	1 1 1	25 22 18
27 28 29 30 30	Volvo S/V90 PHEV Volkswagen e-Golf BMW i8 Hyundai Ioniq Electric Mercedes B250e Others	42 1 6 5 15	50 42 36 35 35 116	1 0 0 0 0 1	N/A 21 20 35 23
	TOTAL	1.179	8.624	100

Source: FEBIAC

Belgium May 2017

I'll get you, Merc GLC...

BMW shines in Record Month

Another record-setting month in May, with Belgians registering, with 1.407 passenger cars plug-ins being registered, up 96% YoY, pulling the EV Share to a record 2.4%.

Too bad then that PHEV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with 81% of all PEV registrations last month belonging to that category, while on the YTD ranking, the top six models are PHEV. And to worsen things, four of them are luxury SUV's.

The must be some hidden Alps somewhere in Belgium to see so many SUV's among the best sellers...

Anyway, the BMW X5 PHEV (Best seller in May, with 187 units, a new record) is now Second in the YTD ranking, and is now looking to displace the Mercedes GLC350e from the leadership, while the Volvo XC90 PHEV (15 deliveries, worst result in 18 months) is dropping in the ranking faster than Donald Trump approval ratings, dropping in two months from #2 to #5, to the benefit of the BMW Armada, besides the aforementioned X5, the 330e climbed to #3, while the 225xe Act. Tourer registered 179 units last month, climbing to #4.

Other BMW's also excelled, like the recently arrived 530e, registering 116 units in May, after 124 in April, so it won't be surprising to see it knock on #5 by year end (Making 4 BMW's in the Top 5!), while the i3 has made a personal best last month, with 67 units, keeping its Ninth spot.

Despite being a minority, BEV models are also reaching record levels, with both Teslas reaching record deliveries in off-peak months (Model S: 64 deliveries, Model X: 60), while the VW e-Golf hit an all time high of 23 deliveries last May. It seems the 36kWh battery is doing wonders for the German electric hatchback...

In the manufacturers ranking, last year winner BMW is steady in the leadership, with 39%(!) share, while Mercedes (18%, up 1%) benefits from the popularity of its midsize GLC SUV to be Second, with the Third Placed now being Tesla (9%).

Interestingly, the best selling non-premium brand is only Sixth, and it's not Volkswagen (Wassup, VW Belgium?), but Nissan, with 5% share, which is behind #4 Volvo (8% share), and #5 Audi (6%).

Pl	Belgium	May	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Mercedes GLC350e	179	777	13	12
2	BMW X5 40e	187	707	12	2
3 4 5	BMW 330e BMW 225xe Active Tourer Volvo XC90 PHEV	76 179 15	451 430 416	8 7 7	5 6 1
6 7	Audi Q7 e-TronTesla Model S	62 64	304 293	5 5	10 4
8	Nissan Leaf	34	287	5	7
9	BMW i3 *	67	284	5	8
10 11	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In BMW 530e	68 116	283 261	5 4	3 N/A
12	Tesla Model X	60	245	4	16
13	BMW 740e	44	188	3	17
14	Renault Zoe	33	131	2	14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21	Mercedes GLE500e Volkswagen Passat GTE Mercedes C350e Mercedes E350e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Toyota Prius PHEV Audi A3 e-Tron	26 29 29 25 8 10 14	104 97 73 72 70 61 48	2 2 1 1 1 1 1	9 13 11 N/A 15 24 19
22 23 24	Volvo V60 Plug-InMercedes S500e Volkswagen Golf GTE	5 9 16	45 37 35	1 1 1	18 25 22
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 35	Volkswagen e-Golf BMW i8 Hyundai Ioniq Electric Mercedes B250e Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Kia Optima PHEV Peugeot iOn Kia Soul EV Volkswagen e-Up! Citroen C-Zero Citroen e-Mehari Others	23 6 9 5 2 1 1 3 1 1	32 30 26 23 17 14 12 11 7 7 6 3	1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	21 20 35 23 21 39 20 30 32 33 34
	TOTAL	1.407	5.891	100

Source: FEBIAC

* - 33 Bev + 34 Rex

Regular Hybrids + Plug-ins Ranking

Pl	Model	May Sales
1	Toyota C-HR Hybrid	223
2	BMW X5 PHEV	187
3	BMW 225xe Act.Tourer	179
3	Mercedes GLC350e	179
5	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	157

If we add regular hybrids to plug-ins, we see the Toyota C-HR rebel-hot-seller leading the ranking, followed by the three best selling PHEV's, relegating the Toyota Yaris Hybrid to a discrete Fifth spot, with 157 units.

As the plug-in market grows at astonishing rate, it won't be surprising to see soon all five positions in the hands of PEVs.

Belgium March 2017

Mercedes GLC350e new #1 in Record Month

Record month in March in the Belgian EV Market, with 1.397 passenger cars plug-ins being registered, up 51% YoY, pulling the EV Share to a record 2.4%(!).

SUV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with three SUV's in March Top 5 places, with the Mercedes GLC350e beating its personal best for the third time in a row and repeating the February Best Seller title, with 170 units, followed by the BMW X5 PHEV (136 units), the surprising Nissan Leaf, Third with 124 sales, its best result ever(!) in Belgium, with the two Teslas closing the Top 5, the Model X surpassed for the first time its eldest brother Model S, thanks to a record 112 deliveries. It seems the Tesla SUV is starting to live up to its promises in this SUV-loving market.

In the YTD ranking, the big news is the rise to power by the Mercedes GLC350e, surpassing the Volvo XC90 PHEV, while the Tesla Model S jumped three positions to #5 and the Nissan Leaf four places to #10.

The good news on the BEV side didn't ended there, as the Tesla Model X climbed one position to #11, while the Renault Zoe, usually an underdog in this market, jumped four positions to #13, thanks to a record 41 deliveries. It seems the ZE 40 version is helping the French model even in markets outside its comfort zone...

In the manufacturers ranking, last year leader BMW is in the leadership, with 33% (Down 4%), while the Second Placed Mercedes (17%, down 1%) benefits from the popularity of its midsize SUV and the Third Placed Volvo (12%, down 4%) is being threatened by a surging Tesla (11%).

Pl	Belgium	March	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Mercedes GLC350e	170	395	12	12
2	Volvo XC90 PHEV	90	367	11	1
3 4	BMW X5 40e BMW 330e	136 103	340 237	10 7	2 5
5	Tesla Model S	111	201	6	4
6	Nissan Leaf	124	196	6	7
7	BMW 225xe Active Tourer	85	182	6	6
8	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In	72	174	5	3
9	Audi Q7 e-Tron	82	168	5	10
10	BMW i3 *	65	165	5	8
11	Tesla Model X	112	160	5	16
12 13 14 14 16 17 18 19 20	BMW 740e Renault Zoe Mercedes GLE500e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Toyota Prius PHEV Volkswagen Passat GTE Mercedes C350e Mercedes E350e Volvo V60 Plug-In	43 41 20 17 10 6 11 13 15	104 71 66 52 42 41 34 33 30	3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1	17 14 9 15 24 13 11 N/A 18
21 22 23 24	Mercedes S500e BMW 530e BMW i8 Audi A3 e-Tron	4 21 4 2	27 21 19 18	1 1 1 1	25 N/A 20 19
25 26 26 28 29 30 31 32 32	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Kia Optima PHEV Hyundai Ioniq Electric Peugeot iOn Mercedes B250e Volkswagen e-Up! Kia Soul EV Volkswagen Golf GTE Citroen C-Zero Others	6 9 5 8 4 2 2 2 2	13 12 12 10 9 7 6 3 3 5	0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	21 39 35 20 23 32 30 22 33
	TOTAL	1.397	3.224	100

Source: FEBIAC

* - 29 Bev + 36 Rex

Belgium February 2017

Mercedes GLC350e the new darling of the Belgian market

February continued with the positive trend in Belgium, with 753 passenger cars wearing a Plug being registered, up 17% YoY, pulling the EV Share at 1.8%.

SUV's continue to be the Trend du Jour, with Belgians confirming their love for German brands and SUV's, the Mercedes GLC350e won for the first time in February the Best Seller of the Month award, with a record 117 units, while climbing to Second Place in the YTD ranking, thus displacing the BMW X5 to the lowest position in the podium.

But is wasn't all bad news for the Bavarian automaker, both the BMW i3 and 225xe Atc. Tourer climbed one position, at the expense of the Audi Q7 e-Tron (26 sales, worst performance in six months), that dropped four positions to #9.

Looking elsewhere, the ageing Nissan Leaf registered 45 units, its best result in nine months, which proves once again the resilience on the Japanese model, allowing it to climb to positions, to #10, last month.

In the manufacturers ranking, last year leader BMW is firm in the leadership, with 37% (Up 3%), while Mercedes (18%, up 2%) benefited from the popularity of its midsize SUV and surpassed Volvo (16%, down 4%) in the race for Second Place.

Pl	Belgium	Feb.	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Volvo XC90 T8	78	277	15	1
2	Mercedes GLC350e	117	225	12	12
3 4	BMW X5 40e BMW 330e	66 63	204 134	11 7	2 5
5	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In	35	102	6	3
6	BMW i3 *	47	100	5	8
7	BMW 225xe Active Tourer	48	97	5	6
8	Tesla Model S	50	90	5	4
9	Audi Q7 e-Tron	26	86	5	10
10	Nissan Leaf	45	72	4	7
11	BMW 740e	24	61	3	17
12 13 14 14 16 17 18 18 19	Tesla Model X Mercedes GLE500e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Volkswagen Passat GTE Toyota Prius PHEV Renault Zoe Mercedes S500e Mercedes C350e Mercedes E350e	13 22 21 14 8 14 8 12 8	48 46 35 35 32 30 23 23 20	3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1	16 9 15 13 24 14 25 11 N/A
21 22 22	Audi A3 e-Tron BMW i8 Volvo V60 Plug-In	6 3 7	16 15 15	1 1 1	19 20 18
24 25 25 27 28 28 30 30	Mercedes B250e Hyundai Ioniq Electric Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Kia Soul EV Volkswagen e-Up! Kia Optima PHEV Porsche Panamera Plug-In Peugeot iOn Others	2 2 3 3 3 3 1 1	9 7 7 4 3 3 2 2 4	0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	23 35 21 30 32 39 27 20
	TOTAL	753	1.827	100

Source: FEBIAC

* - 27 Bev + 20 Rex