USA May 2018

Month 2 before the (TM3) Flood: Tesla Model 3 wins May's Best Seller award in the midsize category

Over 24,000 plug-in units were registered last month in the USA, a 48% increase YoY, pulling the 2018 count now to 100,000 units, and the 2018 PEV share to a record 1.7%. Will we see the PEV share cross 2% before Q4 Q3?

The leader Tesla Model 3 was on the headlines once again, with the production ramp up allowing it to deliver 6,250 units, not only a new all-time record for a single model, but also pulling Tesla's new baby to the leadership of the Premium D-Segment (Midsize class), all fuels included. That's right, the Model 3 outsold in May the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series...But more on that below.

The Second Placed Toyota Prius Prime also broke its personal best, albeit by just two units, allowing it to consolidate its runner-up status, so it seems that the first two places of the podium are already given, with 7 months to go.

Looking elsewhere, the Tesla Model X recovered the Fourth Spot, making three Teslas in the Top 4, while the Nissan Leaf reached 1,576 units, the nameplate best result in 3(!) years, with the production now at full charge and plenty of inventory, one wonders when will the Japanese hatchback beat its all-time record (3,186 units, in August '14).

Speaking of positive results, they were abundant this month: Besides the aforementioned models, the Honda Clarity PHEV has once again beaten its personal record (1,639 units), the BMW 530e had a year best (729 units), allowing it to climb to #11, the Audi A3 e-Tron also recorded a new Year Best (267), climbing to #16, while the Volvo XC60 PHEV joined the Top 20, in #19, thanks to a record 214 sales.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, Tesla (32%) is high above the competition, with Chevrolet (14%) in the runner-up place, and Toyota (12%) not far from the GM brand, while BMW is Fourth, with 10%, up 1%.

Source: InsideEVs

Tesla Model 3 & Others

Pl	Model	2018 Sales
1	Mercedes C-Class	23,917
2	BMW 3-Series	20,629
3	Tesla Model 3	18,305
4	Infiniti Q50	16,526
5	Acura TLX	14,600

Looking at the midsize vehicles, in May the Tesla Model 3 was the Best Selling nameplate, with over 6,000 deliveries, beating the Mercedes C-Class, with 5,500. With deliveries expected to go into 5 digits soon, the Tesla midsizer will have this class leadership in the bag for a long time, so the YTD leadership should fall for Tesla in July, and stay with it for years and years.

Another question is if the Model 3 can reach the top places in the mainstream midsize car class, currently in the hands of the Toyota Camry, with 30,000 sales last month and 151,000 this year. 

Given that the mainstream market is more price-sensitive, the Model 3 can only aspire to play in this league on a monthly basis, if the $35,000 Short Range version comes alive and is made on a large scale. 

So, maybe in 2019? 2020?

Tesla Model S & Others

Pl	Model	2018 Sales
1	Mercedes E/CLS-Class	20,005
2	BMW 5-Series	16,857
3	Tesla Model S	8,070
4	Lincoln MKZ	7,851
5	Mercedes S-Class	7,269

Looking at the full-size vehicles, nothing really new here, the top two continue in their usual positions, with the Model S  keeping the Bronze Medal.

Netherlands May 2018

This beauty should ruffle some feathers among the Sports Car class…

Tesla Model S climbs to #1

April had 1,311 registrations, up 123% regarding the same period last year, pulling the year to date count to 6,765 units (+128%), and pulling the 2018 share slightly  up, to 3.3%, with BEVs representing 88% of all PEV sales. 

The new generation is doing wonders for the Nissan Leaf, after having won in April its first Monthy Best Seller award in six years, last month the Japanese hatchback repeated the feat, thanks to 264 registrations, with Tesla winning the rest of the month medals, the Model S was Second, with 254 units, and the Model X, Third, with 173 deliveries.

To have an idea on how extraordinary the performance of the Tesla nameplates were, these were the best off-peak-month performances ever by both models in this market, strengthening the theory that Tesla is focusing in export markets during this quarter, as it tries to delay sales in their home market, in order to only reach the 200k registrations threshold in July.  

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Nissan Leaf	264
2	Tesla Model S	254
3	Tesla Model X	173
4	VW e-Golf	119
5	BMW i3	101

Looking at the 2018 ranking, the Tesla Model S recovered the leadership, while the #3 Nissan Leaf is now looking dangerously close to the Second Placed VW e-Golf. The German automaker needs to step up production, if it wants to maintain the Leaf in the rearview mirror and keep this year Best Seller trophy a three horse race.

The Opel Ampera-e recovered one place, climbing to #7, thanks to 85 units, while the Toyota Prius PHEV and Smart Forfour ED also rose one spot, to #13 and #14, respectively.

The leader on the PHEV League continues to be the Porsche Panamera PHEV, with 184 units and #9 in the PEV ranking, but the Best Seller of the Month was the BMW 530e, with 31 units (New record), or 14% of all 5-Series sales.

Elsewhere, the VW e-Up! reappears in the Top 20, in #19, now making a BEV majority in the Top 20, with that technology winning by 11 to 9 PHEVs.

Interestingly, in #21 we now have the BMW i8, that registered 15 units in May, the nameplate best performance in 29(!) months, if we go back a few years, the BMW Sports Car was the second plug-in model (The first was the Tesla Model S) to go head to head with their ICE competition, so we wish that the second coming of the i8 can once again make some waves in the Sports Car class, for now it was the Third Best Seller of its class last month, only behind the new Alpine A110 (16 units) and the almighty Porsche 911 (54).  

In the manufacturers ranking, Tesla (24%, up 1%) is in the lead, with Volkswagen (15%, down 2%) staying in #2, but the rising #3 Nissan (15%, up 1%), is closing in and could remove VW's Silver Medal soon.

Source: RAI Vereniging

Regular Hybrids + Plug-ins Ranking

Pl	Model	May Sales
1	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	678
2	Kia Niro HEV	517
3	Toyota C-HR Hybrid	433
4	Nissan Leaf	264
5	Tesla Model S	254

If we add regular hybrids to plug-ins, the podium is entirely made by regular hybrids, with the Toyota Yaris Hybrid leading the way, followed by the Kia Niro HEV and the Toyota C-HR Hybrid, while this time we have two Plug-ins, with the Nissan Leaf in Fourth, and the Tesla Model S in Fifth.

Tesla Model S & Others

Pl	Model	May Sales
1	Tesla Model S	254
2	BMW 5-Series	221
3	Mercedes E-Class	123
4	Volvo S/V90	117
5	Audi A6	85

Looking at May registrations data, the Tesla Model S managed to steal the First Place from the BMW 5-Series, with the remaining competition ending far behind. 

Tesla Model X & Others

Pl	Model	May Sales
1	Tesla Model X	173
2	Volvo XC90	71
3	LR Range Rover Sport	30
4	LR Range Rover	26
5	BMW X5	18

Big SUV's had a big hit with the end of PHEV incentives, and only the Volvo XC90 manages to have significant sales, but when the Tesla Model X deliveries are in full swing, like it was last month, there's really no competition for the American Sports-Minivan-SUV.

Summarizing, the three higher end segments (Sedans/SUV/Sports Car) of the Dutch automotive market have plug-ins as major players, proving once again that Electrification is easier to do in the higher priced segments.