May EV Sales Report V - Finland, Ireland, Japan

hashtag#Finland
- BEVs are up 44% YoY, to 3.3k units, and 50% share;
- There are 10 BEVs in the overall top 15;
- Highlights: Tesla Model Y (3rd), Toyota BZ4x (6th) and Mercedes CLA (7th).

hashtag#Ireland
- BEVs jump 126% YoY, to 2.3k units, and 29% share;
- Adding PHEVs to the tally, the EV share goes up to 43%;
- The VW ID.4 was 2nd overall, with 318 units.

hashtag#Japan
- BEVs surge 187% YoY, to 9.5k units, and 3% share;
- Adding PHEVs to the tally, the share is up to 4%.
- The highlights are the Toyota BZ4x (2k), Tesla (2k) and the new Honda Super-One, that landed with 1.736 units.

April EV Sales Report VII - Japan, Germany and Vietnam

hashtag#Japan
- BEVs more than double sales YoY, to 7k units, or 2% share...
- Adding PHEVs to the tally, the share jumps to...3.1%;
- The best selling BEV was the Nissan Leaf, with 2.021 units.

hashtag#Germany
- BEVs jump 41% YoY, to 64k units, or 26% share;
- VW ID.3 was the best selling BEV, with 3.518 units, followed by the Skoda Elroq (3.341).

hashtag#Vietnam
- BEVs tripled to 26k units, or 43% share;
- Local maker Vinfast owns more than 90% of the BEV market;
- Vinfast has 100% of the local overall top 5, headed by the Limo Green MPV.

Japan May 2020

Nissan Leaf leads regressing market

In May, some 1.025 units were registered in the Japanese PEV market, down 62% YoY, which is worse than the YTD result (-31%) and also worse than the overall market behavior (-19% YoY in 2020, -45% last month), with the Japanese plugin market highly dependent from the leader Nissan Leaf behavior, with the Nissan EV owning almost half of the market, and because the Leaf has seen better days (-38% YoY)...

...The local plugin market is also on a bad place. The 2020 PEV share is now at 0.7% share (0,5% in May), down 0.1% regarding the 2019 result, and one wonders what can pull sales North of the 1% mark again.

But...What? The current leader Nissan Leaf continues sliding, and the same can be said about the remaining podium members, the Toyota Prius PHEV is down 18% this year, while the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is dropping by 33%, so there's really no major hopes for recovery coming from these three. 

Maybe the savior role will belong to the upcoming Toyota RAV4 PHEV?  

On the Honda field, all hopes are going to the Honda e EV, but then again, i believe the model is too niche, abd on the unlikely scenario that the model is indeed a success, will Honda have enough batteries for it?

What's left? Mazda is lauching the MX-30, once again, a model too niche to be a major sales success, Lexus doesn't seem very commited to its UX300e EV, Subaru and Daihatsu are too dependent from Toyota's anti-BEV stubburness, while Suzuki is focusing it's electrification efforts in India...so there are doubts that 2020 will provide the necessary recovery to this market.

The only positive news come from the #4 Mitsubishi Minicab MIEV, tripling its sales regarding last year (fleet deals?), while in #5 we have the Tesla Model 3, that is now the Best Selling Foreign model in Japan.

Markets Roundup - December 2019

I. Big Markets

Let's see how the Big EV Markets fared in 2019:

China

* BAIC EU-Series #1 - First time winner, but in 2020 it will have more competition; 

* 1.2 million units - What a roller coaster, great first half of the year, then after the incentives change, a stark drop, with December ending with a sign of hope. And the Market Share reached 5.5%, above the share of the USA or Europe. 

USA

* Tesla Model 3 #1 - Second win for the Californian, but in 2020 the Model Y lands, so...Enjoy it while you can, Model 3;

* 325.000 sales - Poor second half of the year, leading to slight drop, to 2.0% share.

Europe

* Tesla Model 2 #1 - First title for Tesla in Europe, to be repeated in 2020, but in 2021, things should become more interesting;

* 564.000 units - Sales increased the pace, with the PEV share reaching 3.6%, with plug-in hybrids losing importance, with BEV's now owning 64% of the market. 

Japan

* Nissan Leaf #1 - Despite lack of real competition, the Nissan hatch did its part and won another title;

* 44.000 units - What can i say, sales have (again) dropped and the PEV share has dropped to 0.8%. Disappointing.

Canada

* Tesla Model 3 #1 - Canada's darling. At least until the Model y lands...

* 51.000 units - Strong, steady growth, with the market share ending at a record 2.6%.

South Korea

* Hyundai Kona EV #1 - A new year, a new win for the Crossover, scoring another all-time record (14.000 units). The Kona EV is the leader in Korea.

* 34.000 sales - A hot market, with doubling sales, and the market share now reaching 1.9%. A mention to the Hyundai Nexo Fuel Cell, that registered 4,000 units, leading to a 0.2% share, being the only place FCEVs started to become common(ish).

III. Other markets

A few words on smaller markets:

New Zealand - Tesla Model 3 lands and immediately becomes the Best Seller. PEV share jumped to 2.6% (up from 1.4% in 2018);

Israel - Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was #1, market has beaten the 2018 records and reached 1.5% share. Too many PHEVs, though;

Australia - Doubling sales (9,000 units), with the Tesla Model 3 stealing the show and winning the Best Seller title. The market share needle is finally starting to move (0.9% PEV share);

Brazil - Volvo XC60 PHEV was the Best Seller, in a year that things finally started to move upwards (1,500 units), although share wise, we are still rock bottom (0.1%);

Mexico - Tesla Model 3 steals the show and pulls the market up (1,400 units in total), but share wise, it is still in its infancy (0.1%);

Colombia - Fast growth is moving up the needle (0.5% share), with the BMW i3 becoming the 2019 Best Seller;

South Africa - Jaguar and Land Rover came into play and together with BMW, they are the only ones pulling the market up, allowing it to reach record heights (300 units...);

Taiwan - Tesla Model 3 disrupts the market, making it grow 5-fold, while the plugin share finally starts to move (0.4% share);

Hong Kong - Although still far from the 2017 record (4,000 units), the 2019 result (2,000 units) allowed it to come alive again and reach some 5% share;

Singapore - A record 1,400 units allowed this market to reach 1.9%, with the 2019 Best Seller being the Hyundai Kona EV; 

Japan December 2019

Nissan Leaf wins in depressed market

Some 44.000 units were registered in the Japanese PEV market, down 17% regarding 2018, with the 2019 PEV share ending at 0.8% share, down 0.2% regarding 2018, and this year, the blame is not of a single model, but of all three big players, with the Top 3 models all down over 20% YoY.

Are Japanese just not into plugins? 

It sure seems so, as even the Nissan Leaf, that was reinforced with a 62 kWh version, allowing long range trips, saw its sales dip 23% YoY. 

At least the Nissan EV collected enough units to collect another Best Seller title, its 6th, after winning in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

As the remaining big players, the Toyota Prius PHEV kept its runner-up spot and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV won again the Bronze medal. 

Below the Big Three domestic players, the only other maker with a significant share is BMW, with 10%.

But next year, the German maker will have Tesla as strong candidate to steal its Best Selling Foreigner status, as the California-based has already become the Best Selling Foreigner in Q4, thanks to the landing of the Tesla Model 3.

Looking at Fuel Cells, 673 units were registered, down 2% YoY, making 0,01% of the overall market. Worryingly, it was the third consecutive drop for FCEVs, from the 2016 peak, with 1.055 units, to the current 673 units.

Will the 2nd Generation Toyota Mirai change things?

In 2020, expect the market to resume the growth path, with the Honda e and Mazda MX-30 hopefully stirring things up, while the Toyota RAV4 PHEV should surely jump into the podium. 

The first full year of the Tesla Model 3 should also help the sales tally, although this market is usually very closed to foreign models.