Germany December 2019

Renault Zoe wins 2019 Models trophy, BMW wins Manufacturers

The German PEV passenger car market ended the year on fire, with registrations more than doubling in December, to 11,328 registrations, with PHEVs (+198% YoY) pulling the market up, balancing the 2019 BEV/PHEV share to 58% BEV vs 42% PHEV (51% / 49% in December).

The PEV Share climbed to 4% in December, with BEVs alone hitting 2%, while the final PEV share for 2019 ended at a record 3% (1.8% BEVs).

Looking at December Best Sellers, the Mercedes E300e/de twins three-peeted the monthly leadership, with 964 units, narrowly beating the high tide Tesla Model 3 (926 units), while the Renault Zoe returned to the podium, in 3rd, with 780 units, signaling the return of the French hatchback to form.

Just outside the podium we have the forever young VW e-Golf, with 764 units, while the BMW i3 closes this Top 5, with 630 units, beating the #6 Smart Fortwo EV (623 units) in the finish line.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Mercedes E300e/de	964
2	Tesla Model 3	926
3	Renault Zoe	780
4	VW e-Golf	764
5	BMW i3	630

The German PEV market is known for close races and its changes and surprises, with the 2019 edition was no exception, with a leadership change in the last month of the year, as the Renault Zoe managed to beat the the BMW i3 by just 49 units, with the French hatchback repeating last year title, after two consecutive years as Second Best.

Despite losing to the Zoe, the BMW i3 won the runner-up place, improving on the Third Spot won in 2018.   

Despite a strong December, the Tesla Model 3 stayed 418 units behind the leader Renault Zoe, with the Californian ending in the last place of the podium.

In 4th place, we have the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, that had its best year ever in Germany, with 7,593 units, allowing it to win the Best Selling PHEV and SUV titles, while the #7 Mercedes E300e/de won the Best Selling Luxury Car, succeeding to its BMW 530e arch rival, and the #10 Audi e-Tron was the Best Selling Luxury SUV.

In December, there were some last minute changes, the Smart Fortwo EV was up one spot, ending in #7, and their stablemates Mercedes C300e/de climbed to #15, while the BMW Group also had reasons to smile about, with the Mini Countryman climbing to #13, thanks to a record 355 registrations, and the BMW 330e jumped 3 positions, to #17, with the German midsizer scoring a record 529 units. 

Finally, the Porsche Cayenne PHEV joined the ranking in the last month of the year, in #20, with Porsche placing both its plugins in the Top 20.

Outside the Top 20, there are several models in ramp up mode (BMW X5 PHEV - 114 units; Audi Q5 PHEV - 312; Mini Cooper EV - 324; VW Passat GTE - 468), while the Swedish Yacht Volvo XC90 PHEV scored a record 117 units, a brilliant score for a model that already has a few years on its back.

"What about the big Teslas?" - you might ask, well the Model S scored 114 units, while the Model X had 89 deliveries, far from the 964 registrations of the Mercedes E300e/de, or the 253 units of the Porsche Cayenne PHEV, but like the Volvo XC90 PHEV, they are playing in one of the most difficult foreign fields, so it would be surprising if they could beat the local heroes, which highlights even further the outstanding performance of the Model 3 in Germany in 2019.

In the brands ranking, BMW (22%, +1%) won its 5th manufacturers title, ahead of Tesla (10%), and the #3 Smart (9%), with the French manufacturer resisting the advances of the #4 Mercedes (8%).

The German PEV market is traditionall one of the most balanced and unpredictable out there, but in 2020 a major shift will happen, as the plugin market starts to get into the mainstream (around 6% PEV share), the boredom stability of the overall market will start to set it, with the main interest being in which month will the VW ID.3 take over the leadership from the Renault Zoe, with my guess being between October and November. 

France December 2019

Renault Zoe and Tesla Model 3 pull market to record heights 

The French PEV passenger car market registered a record 7,250 units in December (+28% YoY), a new all time record, thanks to the leader Renault Zoe (2,097 units, a new year best), that seems to be past the worse of the production ramp up, the Tesla Model 3, that with 1,250 units, had its best result ever in France, while PHEV sales more than doubled YoY, helping along with the record score.

This record result and plugin share (3.4%, 2.3% for BEVs alone) in December, pulled the 2019 PEV share to 2.8% (1.9% BEV), a new record, although not that far from the 2.1% of 2018...Better luck in 2020?

More telling of the changing times is the diesel fall from grace in the mainstream market, with the 2019 share shrinking to 34% (39% in 2018), a significant departure from the 47% of 2017 and a far cry from the 72% of 2012...Will diesel sales be dead here by 2025?

Looking at December Best Sellers, besides the aforementioned Renault Zoe and Tesla Model 3, the BMW Group had two representatives on the Top 5, with both the #3 BMW i3 and #5 Mini Countryman PHEV scoring record results, with the 485 units of the German hatchback being particularly relevant, as this record performance happens over six years after it started zooming French roads. Has the quirky hatchback acquired cult status?

Someone that is starting to become familiar in this Top 5, is the Porsche Cayenne PHEV, that ended December in 4th, with 366 units, its best result in 17 months. Will we see it again in 2020?

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Renault Zoe	2,097
2	Tesla Model 3	1,250
3	BMW i3	485
4	Por. Cayenne PHEV	366
5	Mini Country. PHEV	236

In a market known for its stability, it is no surprise to find that the Renault Zoe won the Models trophy, its 7th in a row, with a record 18,817 units, a 11% improvement over the 2018 result, while the Tesla Model 3 removed the Nissan Leaf from its usual runner-up spot, with the Japanese hatchback not helping itself in any way, having dropped its sales by 20% regarding last year, and i guess that if the year had a few more months, even the 3rd place would be out of its hands.

Time for price slashing, Nissan?

The 2018 Bronze Medal, the BMW i3, this time was only 5th, with 2.954 units (+22% YoY), surpassed by the #4 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, that recovered the Best Selling PHEV (and SUV) titles from the Volvo XC60 PHEV. 

Looking at the second half of the table, the Porsche Cayenne PHEV profited from its strong year end to jump 3 spots, into #14, but nevertheless, it wasn't enough to become the 2019 Best Seller in the Luxury SUV category, as the #11 Range Rover Sport PHEV took the prize for the first time, after a close race with another heavyweight, last year winner Volvo XC90 PHEV.

Outside the Top 20, a reference to the 195 registrations of the new BMW X5 PHEV, its second record performance in a row(!), with two midsize SUVs also shining, as both the Audi Q5 PHEV (86 units) and the Jaguar i-Pace (74 units) scored record results, but the most surprising result of the month went to Geely's LEVC TX5 EREV, that thanks to a new ride-hailing company operating in Paris, it registered 96 units in December. 

Looking at a few other sub-categories, the BMW 225xe A. Tourer won once again the Best Selling MPV award (lack of competitors tend to do these things…), while the Mercedes E300e/de won their first Luxury Car title.

In the brands ranking, Renault (31%) won its 8th consecutive(!) title, followed at a distance by the #2 Tesla (12%) and the #3 BMW (8%), with the German brand managing to keep the #4 Nissan (7%) at bay.

Looking into 2020, the Renault Zoe will probably cross the 20,000 units mark and the Tesla Model 3 should reach some 8,000 units, so no big surprises, but true disruption will start with Peugeot playing its cards, namely when starting to deliver its 208 EV, forcing the Renault Zoe to play game and make an effort to keep the leadership, while the 3008 PHEV and 508 PHEV could surprise in the PHEV category.

Midsize Car Best Sellers

Pl	Model	2019 Sales
1	Peugeot 508	15,477
2	Mercedes C-Class	8,194
3	Renault Talisman	6,824
4	Tesla Model 3	6,455

Tesla Model 3 apart, this category still has a long road ahead, with one unplugged model (Talisman), and another soon-to-be-electrified, the Peugeot 508, that should help to the electrification cause. 

The Mercedes C300e/de twins still have a low degree of electrification, with just 3% of sales belonging to their PHEV versions, but expect this percentage to grow throughout the year.

With the arch-rival Peugeot electrifying its midsize model, one wonders if Renault has plans to electrify the Talisman. 

Midsize SUV Best Sellers

Pl	Model	2019 Sales
1	DS 7 Crossback	14,099
2	BMW X3	6,148
3	Mercedes GLC	5,975
4	Volvo XC60	5,897
5	Audi Q5	5,256

This SUV category has also a low degree of electrification, with 3 unplugged models, and of the 2 electrified models, only the Volvo XC60 (32% of sales belonged to the PHEV version) has a significant degree of electrification, as the Audi Q5 has only 6% plugin share.

Expect a fast electrification in 2020, with the leader DS 7 starting to deliver its PHEV units in volume, the #2 BMW X3 also delivering a PHEV version soon, and the Mercedes GLC also with a PHEV version in the cards, we could see a fully electrified Top 5 sometime next year. Not bad, eh?

Switzerland December 2019

Tesla Model 3 wins in red hot market

The Swiss PEV market is up 82% in 2019, by registering 17.176 units, with the PEV share ending at a record 5,5%, with December sales going through the roof, to a record 3.584 units, up 172% YoY and an amazing 10% share!

Will we see this market hit a two-digit share in 2020?

With the needle already above 5% share, we start to see plugins on the top 10 of the overall market, with the Tesla Model 3 ending the year in #4, behind the leader Skoda Octavia, #2 VW Tiguan and #3 VW Golf, that itself has 9% of its sales coming from its BEV version.

The 2019 trophy winner Tesla Model 3 deliveries continue to pull the market up, with the sedan registering 5.024 registrations this year, with the Californian scoring 1.188 units last month, a new absolute record for a plugin, but this wasn't the only amazing result in December, the runner-up Renault Zoe registered a personal best 385 units (apparently, Switzerland was immune to the Netherlands black hole…), the Audi e-Tron scored a record 245 units, and even the veteran VW e-Golf was entitled to a record performance, by delivering 348 units, allowing it to jump 7 spots on the table, to...Seventh.

But the most unexpected performance were the 174 units of the Ford Explorer PHEV...

Wait? What?!?!? Is that even on sale?!?! - You might ask, well apparently it is in Switzerland, the giant SUV from Ford landed in the last month of the year with a bang, with the 174 units allowing it to jump immediately into the Top 20...Amazing, isn't? 

But the great results didn't ended there, the #13 BMW 225xe A. Tourer ended the year witha record performance of 93 registrations, the #14 Mini Countryman PHEV had its best result (54 units) in 2 years, the Porsche Cayenne PHEV registered 94 units, allowing it to jump two positions, to #15, the #16 Volvo XC90 PHEV had its best score (46 units) in 18 months, the #18 Volvo S/V60 PHEV twins had a record 56 deliveries, the #20 Hyundai Ioniq Electric also had a record result (63 units), and even the #21 Mercedes EQC registered a best ever 53 units... 

Basically, Swiss consumers were buying (and being delivered) everything that was available and had a plug...

In the manufacturers ranking, Switzerland is Tesla turf (35%), with BMW (10%) managing to beat Renault (10%) to 2nd place, by a measely 12 units, while Hyundai (7%) ended in the 4th position.