Hungary December 2019

Nissan Leaf Turf

Hungary is one of the hottest plugin markets in Eastern Europe and 2019 was no exception, with this market ending with a record 2.869 registrations, up 46% YoY, translated in a final PEV Share of 1.9%, the highest in the region.

The Nissan Leaf is an undeniable success in Hungary, having been the Best Selling model since 2013(!), which says a lot about the  good work of the local importer, but this year the domination of the Japanese hatchback was less visible, ending the year with only 16% share, having to keep an eye on the #2 VW e-Golf, in order to avoid surprises, as the veteran EV from Volkswagen increased its result by 71% regarding 2018, to 356 units.

The remaining podium position went for BMW, with the i3 recovering the Bronze medal it had lost in 2018 to the VW e-Up!, with 223 units, a significant 57% jump for the hot hatch. 

As for the VW e-Up!, the December performance (34 registrations, Year Best), allowed it to surpass the Hyundai Kona EV and end the year in #4. Is the larger battery of the City EV already making its magic?

Just outside this Top 5, in Sixth, we have the Best Selling PHEV, that this time was the BMW 530e, while overall, plugin hybrids recovered 3% share, to 36%, in what is still a very much BEV-friendly market.

Nissan also won the LCV trophy, with the e-NV200 scoring 54 registrations, the Spanish-made being responsible for 2/3 of the total eLCV market. 

One thing that Nissan failed to retain was the Manufacturers title, with the Japanese maker ending the year in 3rd, with 17% share, behind the #2 Volkswagen (19%) and the new trophy bearer, BMW, that after a close race and thanks to an extended and strong lineup, managed to win the 2019 title, with 20% share.

Looking for EVs - From Slovenia to Poland

Fast-Chargers on highways: A must.

Slovenia - One of the good things about Slovenia is the existence of fast-chargers on the highway service stations, something that some countries with higher plugin shares tend to forget and it is essential to make longer trips more comfortable.

On the local EV fauna, we saw 1 Nissan Leaf, 1 Renault Zoe and 1 Citroen C-Zero. Oh, and a VW Golf GTE with Dutch license plates (they do like to travel abroad, don't they?).

It felt like a tourist (and EV) friendly place, and local radios weren't bad either, with the news being broadcasted in Slovenian, English and German (?!?).

3 EVs in Budapest

Hungary - We saw 2 Nissan Leaf and 1 Opel Ampera on the countryside, but it was on the fancy area of Budapest (Buda), that we saw an EV Bonanza: countless Leaf, i3's, e-Golf...plus 2 e-Up!, 2 e-NV200, 1 Smart EV, 1 Kia Soul EV, 1 Fiat 500e(!!!)...With plenty of PHEVs too, with the Opel Ampera everywhere, plus a few Prius PHEV and Outlander PHEV for good measure.

Despite this EV density, we saw few Teslas, 2 Model X and 1 Model S, while other Luxury EVs were completely absent. Are the local rich people averse to EVs?

Slovakia - We saw a few Toyota hybrids and 1 Outlander PHEV, otherwise...nothing much going on.

One Opel Ampera that must have migrated from Germany/Netherlands to Hungary...

Czech Republic - See Slovakia. Same story, but without the Outlander. Good radios, though, with Country Music radio and CAS Rock, a brilliant Rock radio.

Poland - We saw a couple of Nissan Leafs, 1 BMW i3, 1 Model S and...that was all folks.

Hungary December 2018

Nissan Leaf Superstar

The Hungarian PEV Market ended with a record 1.957 registrations, up 71%, translated in a final PEV Share of 1.4%, with 66% of that share belonging to BEVs.

The Nissan Leaf is an undeniable success in Hungary, having been the Best Selling model since 2013(!), with the Japanese hatchback being responsible for one third of all plugins in the country, which says a lot about the  good work of the local importer.

The following podium places went for Volkswagen, with the e-Golf collecting Silver, 208 units, a big jump from the 49 registrations of 2017, while the e-Up!, a popular model in this market, ended in Third, but saw its sales drop 11%. Maybe the recent price drop will reignite the small VW sales?

Outside the podium we have the BMW i3, while the Best Selling PHEV was the Kia Niro PHEV, in #5, with the Korean Crossover succeeding in the PHEV throne to the VW Passat GTE, which once again signals the Hyundai-Kia rise across the Continent.

Nissan won also the manufacturers trophy, with 32%, while Volkswagen (23% share) ended in Second Place, with BMW (16%) closing the podium, in #3. 

Pl	Hungary	Dec.	YTD	%	'17Pl
1 2	Nissan Leaf VW e-Golf	32	628 208	32 11	1 9
3	VW e-Up!		152	8	2
4	BMW i3	10	142	7	3
5	Kia Niro PHEV Others	3 48	99 623	5 37	20
TOTAL		93	1.957	100

Hungary October 2018 (Draft)

Nissan Leaf Superstar

The Hungarian PEV Market was a sort of "Moby Dick", as it was hard to get detailed data on a model level, but now we have some information in this market, which the most important in Eastern Europe, translated in a PEV Share of 1.3%, with 62% of that share belonging to BEVs.

The Nissan Leaf is an undeniable success in this market, having been the Best Selling model since 2013(!), with the Japanese hatchback being responsible for one third of all plugins in the country, which says a lot about the work done by the local importer.

Other important players are Volkswagen (21% share) and BMW (18%), with the first using both the e-Golf and e-Up! to rack up sales, while the second has the i3 as its bread and butter model.. 

Pl	Hungary	Oct.	YTD	%	'17Pl
1 2	Nissan Leaf VW e-Golf	75 7	497 141	32 9	1 9
3	BMW i3	13	128	8	3
4	Kia Niro PHEV	6	90	6	20
5	VW e-Up! Others	39	80 623	5 40	2
TOTAL		140	1.559	100

Luxembourg & Others 2012

Yes, you have read it right, this about sales in 2012, but i believe the sales data i've stumbled a few days ago is worth noting, as they come from countries out of the usual Green Car Media focus. To me it's the first insight into their plug-in sales and i believe it is also the first time they go public.

Here they go:

Luxembourg

The highest waged country in the EU registered 85 plug-in cars in 2012 with Renault leading the charge.

Pl	Model	2012
1	Renault Kangoo ZE	23
2	Opel Ampera / Chev. Volt	20
3	Citröen C-Zero	20
4	Renault Fluence ZE	9
5 6	Fisker Karma Mia Electric	2 1

Slovenia

The PSA (Peugeot and Citröen) brands did a lot to push EV's in Central and Eastern Europe, here's another proof of that.

Pl	Model	2012
1	Citröen C-Zero	16
2	Opel Ampera	9
3	Nissan Leaf	2

Slovakia

Just 6 units were registered in 2012 here, when in neighboring Czech Rep. 98 units were sold that year. 

Pl	Model	2012
1	Opel Ampera	4
2	Citröen C-Zero	2

Hungary

Again Opel and Citröen testing the waters for plug-ins here.

Pl	Model	2012
1	Opel Ampera	9
2	Citröen C-Zero	5
3	Nissan Leaf	2

Final mention for Turkey, 92 Renault Fluence ZE were sold in 2012 there, a small drop in the general Turkish market, but nevertheless it was enough to make it one of the top markets for the french sedan.