Austria October 2016

 BMW bulldog i3 heading to Austria

The Rise and Rise of the BMW i3

Currently one of the hottest markets in the world, Austria plug-in sales were up 80% YoY to almost 500 new EV's in October, with the YTD tally now counting 4.320 units, exacly 2.000 units above the same period in 2015 (Up 86% YoY), placing the EV Share at a record 1,55%.

Looking at the models ranking, the Renault Zoe (62 units in October) is still the YTD leader, but not for long, because behind it there's an unstopable locomotive called BMW i3, Best Seller in October with 164 units, a new all-time record for a single model, while allowing it to reach #52 in the General Ranking (Highest ever for an EV) and pass the Tesla Model S in the YTD ranking, reaching the runner-up status. 

If the German Hot Hatch keeps up the pace until the end of the year, it would not only win the Best Seller title for the first time (After two consecutive #2's), but also reach the 1.000 mark, a first in this market.

Looking at the rest of the competition, the BMW i8 climbed to #19 and the Audi Q7 e-Tron is now #21, while at the bottom of the ranking we welcome the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, landing with 7 units, a positive number which could say that the local importer is (rightly) confident in the success of its model in this hot and predominantly BEV market.

In the manufacturers ranking, Renault  (19% Share, down 1%) stayed the leader, but below it, much has changed, with the Second Place now in the hands of BMW (18%, up 3%), dropping Volkswagen (18%) to Third and Tesla (15%) to Fourth. 

With BMW propelled by the red hot love affair between Austrian buyers and its i3 model, expect the German carmaker to reach the leadership next month.

Unlike other fast-growing European markets, where the bulk of growth comes from PHEV's, in Austria plug-in hybrids remain significantly behind BEV's, with only 21% share, a rare thing these days in Europe...

Pl	Austria	Oct.	YTD	%	'15Pl
1	Renault Zoe	62	703	16	3
2 3 4	BMW i3 * Tesla Model S Volkswagen e-Golf	164 19 12	636 530 379	15 12 9	2 1 6
5	Nissan Leaf	18	283	7	5
6	Mercedes B250e	23	254	6	8
7 8 9 10 11 12	Kia Soul EV Volkswagen Golf GTE e) Audi A3 e-Tron e) Volkswagen Passat GTE e) Tesla Model X BMW 225xe Act. Tourer e)	12 15 10 20 22 5	225 186 150 134 99 75	5 4 3 3 2 2	4 16 9 N/A N/A N/A
13	Renault Kangoo ZE e)	10	65	1	N/A
13 15 16 17 18 19 19 21 22 22	Mercedes C350e   e) Renault Twizy  Volkswagen e-Up! Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Porsche Cayenne Plug-In e) Mitsu. Outlander PHEV e) BMW i8 Audi Q7 e-Tron e) Peugeot iOn Volvo XC90 T8 e)	10 2 5 5 5 7 12 1 5	65 63 57 53 50 41 41 38 35 35	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1	N/A 7 12 15 17 9 20 N/A 15 N/A
24 25	Citröen C-Zero Volvo V60 Plug-In	6	30 23	1 1	19 9
26 27 27 29 30 31	BMW 330e   e) BMW 740e   e) BMW X5 40e   e) Smart Fortwo ED Hyundai Ioniq Electric Porsche Panamera Plug-In	5 5 5 7	15 10 10 8 7 6	0 0 0 0 0 0	N/A N/A N/A 14 N/A 18
32 32	Mercedes GLC350e Mercedes GLE500e		5 5	0 0	N/A N/A
34 34	Mitsubishi I-Miev Volkswagen XL1		2 2	0 0	22 22
	TOTAL	472	4.320	100

Source: http://myampera.wordpress.com

* - 153 BEV + 11 REX

Finland October 2016

Bimmer Fest Edition

As of lately, Finland has become one of my favorite markets to report, because news are always good here, October confirmed that trend, with a total of 135 EV's were sold in Finland, up 155% YoY, with the EV Share up again to a record 1,1%.

Looking at the models ranking, the Volvo XC90 T8 is untouchable in the leadership, with 230 units, 19 of them last month.

The Second Placed VW Passat GTE is secure in its place, but the last place of the podium is still pretty much open to discussion between two BMW's, with the 330e (13 sales last month) surpassing its X5 relative (8 units), with only one unit separating them, it looks this will be a open race until the end .

The Audi Q7 e-Tron continues to deliver impressive numbers, having registered 17 units last month and jumping to #9 in the YTD chart, making it a serious contender for the 2017 title.

Underlining a positive month for BMW is the performance of its 740e flagship, that registered 6 units last month and now has only four units separating it from the class leader, the Mercedes S500e.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BMW (22%, up 1%) is the new Top Dog, if only by eight units (257 vs 249), displacing Volvo (22%) to Second. In Third, we have Volkswagen (14%, down 1%), that is watching the Fourth Placed Mercedes (11%) approaching.

Pl	Finland	Oct.	YTD '16	%	Pl '15
1 2 3 4	Volvo XC90 T8 Volkswagen Passat GTE BMW 330e BMW X5 40e	19 13 13 8	230 115 86 85	20 10 7 7	12 N/A N/A 18
5	Tesla Model S	1	69	6	1
6 7	Nissan Leaf Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	3 5	67 66	6 6	5 2
8	BMW 225xe Active Tourer	5	52	5	N/A
9 9 9 12 13	Mercedes C350e Audi Q7 e-Tron Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Volkswagen Golf GTE Mercedes GLE500e	17 10 1 4	47 47 47 44 42	4 4 4 4 4	7 N/A 3 4 N/A
14	Audi A3 e-Tron	4	28	2	6
15 16 17 17 19 20 21 21 23 24 24 24 27 28	Mercedes GLC350e BMW i3 Volvo V60 Plug-In Tesla Model X Mercedes S500e BMW 740e BMW i8 Kia Optima PHEV Volkswagen e-Golf Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Toyota Prius Plug-In Volkswagen e-Up! Mercedes B250e Renault Zoe	7 6 2 3 6 1 4 1 1 1	25 21 19 19 11 7 6 6 4 3 3 3 2 1	2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0	N/A N/A 8 N/A 10 N/A 17 N/A 9 14 11 15 N/A N/A
	TOTAL	135	1.155	100

Source: trafi.fi

Russia July 2016 (Draft)

Yes, Ladas have also joined the EV Bandwagon

I am always amazed with the high amount of readers that EV Sales has in Russia, so it's with pleasure that i can give back some data to them, a Russian EV Podium draft, based on the information i have this year.

Pl............Model............. YTD 2016

1.  Nissan Leaf ........................163

2.  Tesla Model S........................82

3.  Mitsubishi I-Miev....................52

With the year tally at around 400 units, registrations are tripling regarding last year, so this can be the first year that plug-in sales reach four digits.

If last year Tesla ended Mitsubishi's undisputed lead on this market (The Japanese was the Best Selling brand since 2011), this year it is the Nissan Leaf (Used Imports?) that leads the way, followed by the Tesla Model S and the Mitsubishi I-Miev, the tiny city car is an ever popular plug-in model here, which along with electric Ladas, make the two most unusual trends of this EV market.

With the imminent arrival of the modern Lada Vesta EV (Above), expect Lada to have a decent product to offer, unlike the previous model (Below), and finally start to run at the same pace of their foreign counterparts.

Electric Lada Kalina EL

UK September 2016 (Top 5)

"Move out of my way, Tesla!" - Seems to say the diminutive orange Bully Bulldog

No Alarms and No Surprises

Over 31.000 plug-ins were sold in the first three Quarters of the year, up 45% YoY, down from the three digit growth rates of last year, but with Q3 growing faster than Q2, one can say that, for the moment, Brexit wasn't a cause for alarm regarding EV Sales, in fact, since then  market share climbed to around 1.4%, a new all-time record.

Looking at the models ranking, there's really no surprises, Britain's most popular plug-ins remained in their seats, with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV still holding the leadership, despite a 17% sales drop regarding the same period last year, with share dropping 4% over the last post, in June.

In the remaining podium seats, the Mercedes C350e lost a bit of momentum, dropping 2% in share, while reversely, the Third Placed Nissan Leaf recovered some stamina, recovering 2% share, to 11%, just 2% less than the Mercedes.

The BMW 330e is stable in Fourth and handicapped by production constraints (BMW doesn't even bother to make a 330e station wagon), so it is unable to go after the Mercedes midsize offering.

The Tesla Model S holds on to the Fifth Spot, but probably not for long, as the BMW i3 is profiting from the 33kWh version to jump positions and with less than 100 units separating them, it will be a question of time until the German Hot Hatch climbs to Fifth.

In the manufacturers ranking, Mitsubishi is still ahead of the pack, with 23% share, but the lead over the increasingly menacing BMW (17%) has been going down significantly, while Mercedes (14%) is defending its Third spot from Nissan (13%).

Pl	UK	Sep. 16	YTD	%	Pos. '15
1	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	1.270	7.770	23	1
2 3	Mercedes C350e Nissan Leaf	672 699	4.219 3.729	13 11	N/A 2
4 5	BMW 330e Tesla Model S	558 364	2.576 1.896	8 6	N/A 8

China New Models - October 2016

In October we have two new models, the first is a sharp hatchback from Changan and the second is Chery's long awaited step into the sedan market.

Changan Benni EV - This sporty looking hatch is the brand's new offering for the EV hatchback class (Think Toyota Yaris), design is always subjective, but for me it is the best looking small EV Made in China ever, its 67 hp engine allows it to reach 120 kms/h top speed, so its no slouch on the highway, too bad the range is just 150 kms...Aside from range, this is one of those easy-as-candy selling models, so despite only delivering 15 units in its first month in the market, it will surely surpass its Eado EV bigger brother as Changan's best selling plug-in. 

Sales Target: 1.000 units/month

Chery Arrizo 7 PHEV - There was a time when Chery was the main driving force behind EV's in China, with the basic QQ EV allowing it to the best selling brand from 2011 to 2013, however, the introduction of the BYD Qin in late 2013 signaled a seismic change in the local market, with sales shooting up and regular cars taking over the top places in the ranking. After three long years, Chery finally responded to these trends, by launching a plug-in hybrid version of its good-looking sedan, the Arrizo 7. Despite joining a hot class, the 9.2 kWh battery and 50 kms electric range are rather forgettable specs, when compared with the SAIC e550 (11.8 kWh and 58 kms) or the current star, the BYD Qin (13 kWh and 70 kms range). Still, the 172 units registered in its landing month bode well for the future.  

Sales Target: 1.000 units/month

China October 2016 (Updated)

Beijing Auto (BAIC): Has BYD found its nemesis?

BAIC Shines (Again)

The Chinese market had more than 32.000 new EV's zooming the streets in October, with the market up a mere 3% over the previous month, but still, it was a 46% increase over the same month last year, so not all is bad.

With the market share continuing to rise steadily, now at around 1.4%, the Chinese EV market is headed for some 400.000 units by December, 31^st, which will not only beat North America and Europe as major selling markets, both in volume and market share, but would also mean that China will absorb around half of the EV’s delivered in 2016.

In October, BYD managed to place only one model among the Top 5, the veteran e6, against two models from Beijing Auto, with BAIC repeating their Gold & Bronze medals of September, while the Chery eQ filled its predecessor big shoes and collected a Top 5 position. 

BYD’s last performances have been particularly disappointing, as the brand seems to have stopped growing, with October being the fifth consecutive month of 10.000-something performances, in stark contrast to Beijing Auto, that in the same period jumped from 4.116 units to more than seven thousand. Can it be that BAIC will put BYD’s domination to an end soon? 

Here are last month Top 5 Best Selling models:

#1 – BAIC EU260: Beijing Auto’s new poster-child for success, the EU260 (The “260” is its range in kms) has hit once again record heights, with 4.580 units, a new year high in China and a new volume record for any BAIC model. Sitting at the heart of the plug-in sedan market, with a price of 255k Yuan (+/- 37k USD), for reference, the fancier BYD Qin EV300 starts at 260k, while the more utilitarian BYD e5 costs 240k, this model seems set to be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

#2 - BYD e6: Having been launched back in 2010, this BYD model is currently the Granddaddy of Chinese EV’s, being a popular model among fleet companies, in China and abroad, it must have been one of those fleet deals that allowed it to surge deliveries to 3.118 units, allowing it to be the best selling BYD last month. With a massive 82 kWh battery and 400 kms range, expect the oldtimer to continue appearing regularly here.

#3 – BAIC E-Series EV: This Mercedes B-Class inspired BAIC hatchback has been the brand’s bread-and-butter model over the years, and despite the recent success of its EU260 sibling, BAIC had enough production capacity to keep the E-Series running at high voltage, with 2.395 units, repeating the September feat of having two models in the podium, something that must be sounding alarms at the BYD Headquarters…

 

#4 – Zhidou D1 EV: The tiny two-seater is becoming a regular here, repeating its Fourth Place again in October, with the D1 securing the Best Seller status of its class, with 2.308 units, a 98% increase YoY.

#5 – Chery eQ: This rather funky little hatchback is the spiritual successor of the QQ EV, a basic model that once epitomized what EV’s were like in China, having won the Best Seller trophy three years in a row, from 2011 to 2013. The eQ is a significant departure from its predecessor, as now it can be considered an actual car, with a 22 kWh battery, 200 kms range, a 56 hp engine and suitable equipment (Airbags, ABS, A/C and back radar), this can be considered the Mitsubishi I-Miev of China…And at 160k Yuan (+/- 23k USD), before incentives, it ought to. Last month it reached 2.130 sales, its best result to date.

Year-to-Date Ranking – It’s BYD vs BAIC all the way

If the podium remained unchanged, the following positions saw the Roewe e550 stumble two positions to #6, benefiting the now #4 BYD e6 and #5 BAIC EU260, two models that have broken their personal records last month, something that has a special meaning for the six-year-old BYD, which some time ago had 1.544 units delivered…During the whole year of 2013!

Other models from the two current Chinese powerhouses also climbed in the ranking, with the BYD Qin EV300 (2.124 units, new personal best) jumping three positions to #10, while the BAIC EX200 climbed one position to #19, but the 300 units delivered were somewhat disappointing, considering the great potential this compact Crossover has.

Final mention for the Zotye E200 city car, that by registering a record 1.655 units, jumped four positions to #14, becoming the one of the surprises of the month.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BYD is the perennial leader, with 33% market share, followed by BAIC (14%, up 1%), which is cementing its dark horse status among the Chinese EV makers, with Zotye (8%, up 1%) replacing SAIC Roewe (7%, down 1%) in Third Place.

Finally, looking at the breakdown between BEV’s and PHEV’s, unlike other markets where plug-in hybrids are winning the upper hand, all-electric cars just continue improving its share, now at 72%, up 2% regarding last month.

Pl	China	Oct.	YTD	%
1	BYD Tang	1.529	28.317	11
2	BYD Qin	1.538	19.929	8
3	BAIC E-Series EV	2.395	17.852	7
4	BYD e6	3.118	16.008	6
5 6 7 8	BAIC EU260 SAIC Roewe e550 BYD e5 Chery eQ	4.580 527 1.943 2.130	14.727 13.600 11.106 10.857	6 5 4 4
9	Zotye Cloud EV	2.053	9.778	4
10	BYD Qin EV300	2.124	8.922	3
11	Zhidou D1 EV	2.308	8.787	3
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	JMC E100 JAC iEV4 Zotye E200 Geely Emgrand EV Zhidou D2 EV Tesla Model S Kandi K17 Cyclone BAIC EX200 Changan Eado EV Others	1.007 614 1.655 1.002 1.085 300 151 2.711	8.358 8.270 7.441 7.359 7.141 6.964 6.164 4.205 4.119 38.062	3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 15
	TOTAL Market	32.770	257.926	100

Also published in EV Obsession and CleanTechnica.