Japan November 2017 (Updated)

Prius PHV: Japan 2017 Best Seller. by a 1.000 miles, but...

What about in 2018?

Prius PHV surge pulls the market to record levels

If the first half of 2017 saw this market recovering, thanks to the introduction of the new Toyota Prius PHV, ruling without competition for the most part of the year, the October introduction of the new Nissan Leaf cemented the recovery, stealing the last two Monthly Best Selling trophies from Toyota, coinciding with a plateauing of sales from the PHEV hatchback. 

Is there a correlation between both events?

Thanks to these two new models and the help of BMW, the PEV share is now finally north of 1%, at 1,02%, being the first time the Japanese market surpasses the all-important 1% barrier (In 2013 it reached 0.92%, '14 had 0.98%).

If the 2017 Best Seller trophy is certain to go to Toyota and its Prius PHV, thanks to 25.000 units, obliterating all previous records, providing the brand's second award (The first was in 2012), for the 2018 edition, the Toyota nameplate wil have a much harder task at hand, as the Nissan Leaf is said to have a 30-45k sales target for Japan alone.  

Pl	Japan	Nov.	2017	%	Pl '16
1 2	Toyota Prius PHV Nissan Leaf *	1.670 1.912	25.060 14.619	51 30	N/A 1
3	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	389	4.431	9	2
4	BMW 225xe A.Tourer e)	135	1.420	3	N/A
5	BMW 330e  e)	90	899	2	N/A
6	BMW i3  e)	54	704	1	N/A
	Others	192	2.070	1
	TOTAL	4.442	49.203	100

e) Estimate

* - Includes Leaf I & II

Romania November 2017

BMW i3 Shines 

If the overall automotive market in Romania had a bad month (-3.5%), the local PEV market is hot as ever, with November signaling 49 registrations, up four fold, pulling the 2017 sales to 321 units, up 168% YoY. True, the starting base is small, but growth is always good, right?

With the PEV Share at a record 0.33%, plug-ins in Romania are starting to move the needle, will we see it move in a more significant way next year? Say...1%?

If last year BMW and Mercedes were the big players, with both counting 69% of last year sales, things are more even this year, but the leadership still belongs to the BMW i3, with the German Hot Hatch shining in November, thanks to 14 deliveries. 

The VW e-Golf and Renault Zoe make up for the rest of the podium, but they have half the sale of the leader i3. 

In a market that was strongly driven by SUV's until recently, where five of the Top 10 belonged to that category, it is interesting to see them receding, to the profit of BEVs, that now make up 6 of the Top 10 places, a trend confimed by the fact that BEVs are growing 371% YoY and represent 60% of all PEV sales, a stark contrast to 2016, when plug-in hybrids trounced all-electrics by 93 units to 69.

In the manufacturers ranking, BMW is in the lead, with 32% share, while Mercedes has been losing significant ground, now with just 18%, to the profit of the Third Placed Volkswagen, now with 15%.

Pl	Romania	Nov.	2017	%	Pl '16
1	BMW i3	14	61	19	1
2 3	Volkswagen e-Golf e) Renault Zoe	6 5	32 30	10 9	N/A 8
4 5	Mercedes GLC350e Mercedes B250e	3	24 20	7 6	8 14
6	BMW X5 40e	2	16	5	2
7	Kia Soul EV	3	12	5	N/A
7 9 10 11 11 10 13 13 15 15 15 15 15	BMW 225xe Active T. Audi Q7 e-Tron Mitsubishi I-Miev Mercedes GLE500e Volkswagen e-Up! Porsche Panamera PHEV Volvo XC90 T8 Smart Forfour ED BMW 740e Mercedes C350e Hyundai Ioniq Electric Mini Countryman PHEV Volkswagen Golf GTE Others	1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 4	12 10 9 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 35	4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 10	17 N/A N/A 3 N/A 14 6 8 12 N/A N/A N/A N/A
	TOTAL	49	321	100

Source: http://www.drpciv..ro/

Belgium November 2017

Mini and Volvo shine in Hot Market

Another positive month in November, with Belgians registering 1.228 passenger PEVs, up 50% YoY, placing the EV Share at 2.6%.

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.

Expect this trend to be highlighted in December, as PHEV incentives will be reduced next year, originating a sales rush similar to what happened a year ago in neighboring Holland.

Belgians continue fancying premium plug-in hybrid SUV's, with the podium positions occupied by three models from that category, but in November a new model managed to meddle between those Big Boys, with the Mini Countryman PHEV reaching Third Place in November.

The Tesla Model S climbed to #8, while the aforementioned Mini Countryman PHEV reached #11 and another recent model is on the rise, with the Volvo XC60 PHEV jumping to #20, Thanks to a personal best 61 deliveries.

Other Volvo's climbing positions are the S/V90 PHEV flagship twins, climbing to #24, while the #30 has a new face, with the Smart Fortwo ED joining the table.

In the manufacturers ranking, last year winner BMW is steady in the leadership, with 34% share (Down 1%), Mercedes (20%, up 1%) is the runner-up, benefitting from the popularity of its midsize GLC SUV, all while the Third Place now seems to be firm in the hands of Volvo (10%, up 1%), which has gained a precious advantage over Porsche (8%, down 1%) and Tesla (7%, down 1%).

Pl	Belgium	Nov.	YTD	%	'16Pl
1	Mercedes GLC350e	172	1.798	14	12
2	BMW X5 40e	81	1.326	10	2
3 4 5	Volvo XC90 PHEV BMW 225xe Active Tourer BMW 530e	137 43 61	886 771 766	7 6 6	1 6 N/A
6 7	BMW 330e Porsche Panamera PHEV	55 56	745 611	6 5	5 20
8	Tesla Model S	70	569	4	4
9	BMW i3	40	559	4	8
10 11	Audi Q7 e-Tron Mini Countryman PHEV	41 83	538 462	4 3	10 N/A
12	Porsche Cayenne PHEV	26	461	3	3
13	Tesla Model X	29	452	3	16
14 15	Nissan Leaf BMW 740e	11 17	387 326	3 2	7 17
16 17 17 19 20 21 21 23	Renault Zoe Mercedes GLE500e Volkswagen Passat GTE Mercedes C350e Volvo XC60 PHEV Mercedes E350e Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Volkswagen e-Golf	20 5 24 9 61 5 11 20	266 228 228 215 165 138 138 121	2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1	14 9 13 11 N/A N/A 15 21
24 24 26	Volvo S/V90 PHEV Toyota Prius PHEV Volkswagen Golf GTE	24 9 19	120 119 118	1 1 1	N/A 24 22
27 28 29 30	Audi A3 e-Tron Mercedes S500e Volvo V60 Plug-In Smart Fortwo ED Others	7 1 13 15 63	108 84 76 59 411	1 1 1 0 3	19 25 18 37
	TOTAL	1.228	13.251	100