Portugal December 2015

Has the Zoe finally reached its full potential?

  

Outlander PHEV Conquers #1

EV Sales are smoking hot in Portugal, with sales reaching 250 units in December, up five fold regarding the same month last year and selling more in one month than in the whole year of 2013...

With YTD sales ending at 1.305 units, up 260% regarding 2014, the EV Share ended at 0,61%, a significant departure from the 0,25% of last year, a rise not so spectacular as total sales, because the general market also grew in double digits.

Looking at the models ranking, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was the surprising winner of the Best Seller title, growing from #4 and 39 units in 2014, to the current #1, with 229 units.

The remaining podium seats were for the Nissan Leaf (Second) and BMW i3 (Third), both of them benefiting from sales pushes by their respective brands in December, an aspect that local importers finally seem to have dedicated themselves to do.

The most flagrant example of this is the Renault Zoe, which has sold a record 63 units last month,a new all-time monthly record in this market, collecting only its third Monthly Best Seller trophy (The previous were in Dec. '14 and Oct. '15), an odd fact for a model that has been on sale for over two years, especially considering that Renault has the largest dealership network in Portugal and is the best selling automotive brand.

An interesting case is the Mercedes C350e, Rookie of the Year, ending the year in #5, meaning that fleet/company managers are finally adhering to the substantial company incentives.

In the manufacturers ranking, Nissan (19%) recovered just in time to win its third manufacturers title (2010, 2011 & 2015), reaching Renault (Best Seller in 2012, 2013 & 2014) as the brand with most trophies here.

Renault also took the profit from a great December to reach Second Place (18% share and 238 units), dropping Mitsubishi (18% and 235 units) to Third Place.

After 2015 having been the Year One AT (After Troika), it looks that the EV market has finally to grow significantly, so i would say some 2.500 units will be sold during 2016, with the EV Share staying firmly north of the 1% barrier. Regarding models, the Zoe finally looks poised to run for the leadership, looking to outsell the Outlander PHEV, BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf, while the Mercedes C350e and VW Passat GTE might play the dark horse card that Mitsubishi did so well in 2015.

Pl	Portugal	Dec.	2015	%	Pl '14
1	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	13	229	18	4
2	Nissan Leaf	34	209	16	2
3 4	BMW i3 * Renault Zoe	40 63	162 153	12 12	1 5
5 6 6 8 9 10 11 12 12 14 15 16 16	Mercedes C350e Renault Twizy Peugeot iOn Toyota Prius Plug-In Volvo V60 Plug-In Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Volkswagen Golf GTE Renault Kangoo ZE Citroen C-Zero Volkswagen e-Up! Mercedes B-Class ED Tesla Model S e) Volkswagen e-Golf	32 3 9 6 9 12 2 12 4 1 4	80 58 58 47 38 36 33 27 27 22 17 15 15	6 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1	N/A 3 20 12 14 8 N/A 8 20 11 N/A N/A 15
18 18 20 20 22 23 24 25 25 25 28 28 30	Audi A3 e-Tron Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Mercedes S500e BMW i8 Smart Fortwo ED Mistusbishi I-Miev Opel Ampera Porsche Panamera Plug-In BMW X5 40e PHEV Kia Soul EV Peugeot Partner EV Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV Citroen Berlingo EV	1 2 2 1	13 13 11 11 7 6 4 3 3 3 2 2 1	1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	N/A 13 N/A 7 6 15 18 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A 20
	TOTAL	250	1.305	100

Source: ACAP

* - 39 Bev + 1 Rex

Plug-Ins Versus Regular Hybrids

Pl	Model	2015
1	Toyota Auris Hybrid	736
2	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	547
3	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	229
4	Nissan Leaf	209
5	BMW i3	162

  
If we combine regular hybrid sales with plug-ins, only the Auris Hybrid and Yaris Hybrid, both from Toyota, are outselling plug-ins. If the Auris seems out of reach for the moment, the Yaris Hybrid might see its second place in danger, especially if Renault starts to market the Zoe in a serious fashion.

Belgium December 2015

Sprint finish: The Model S finished just ahead of the Porsche.

Tesla Model S #1

Some 350 EV's were sold in Belgium in the last month of the year, up 30% regarding the same month last year, placing the 2015 EV Share at 0.78%

The YTD sales ended below the 4.000 units, at 3.899 units, but still represented a 85% increase over 2014, so 2015 was a positive for this market.

The long race between the Tesla Model S and Porsche Cayenne Plug-In ended with all-electric model taking the upper hand, delivering 76 units versus 45 for the Porsche, thus winning the Best Seller title with a 32 units lead. It was a hard race, but the american sports-sedan managed to revalidate the 2014 title...

In the rest of the ranking, Volvo had a positive year end, with the V60 Plug-In up one position to #4, while the XC90 PHEV jumped to #13, promising a bright career for the swedish SUV in 2016.

Good result also for the #15 BMW X5 PHEV, with 34 units sold, looking that 2016 will see several Luxury SUV's in the top positions.

In the manufacturers ranking, Porsche won the 2015 title (23%), followed closely by last year winner, Tesla (21%), and with BMW in Third, with 15%.

2016 seems to be the Year of the Luxury SUV, with the Cayenne Plug-In, Volvo XC90 PHEV and BMW X5 PHEV, all looking as serious candidates to dethrone the Tesla Model S, which will have some insider competition later in the year, as the Model X starts to cross The Pond and arrive at Belgian roads. As for sales predictions, considering new incentives for purchase on the Flanders region, the growth trend will increase, so would say some 8.000 units will be sold during 2016.

Pl	Belgium	Dec.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1	Tesla Model S	76	820	21	1
2	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In	45	788	20	14
3 4	BMW i3 * Volvo V60 Plug-In	23 35	386 265	10 7	2 6
5	VW Golf GTE	3	236	6	23
6	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	7	191	5	5
7	Audi A3 e-Tron	10	189	5	15
8	Nissan Leaf	4	162	4	4
9	BMW i8	7	149	4	9
10	Porsche Panamera Plug-In	3	96	2	3
11	Mercedes B-Class ED	4	74	2	N/A
12	Renault Twizy	18	72	2	8
13 14 15 16 17 18 19	Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-In Mercedes S500e BMW X5 40e PHEV Mercedes C350e VW e-Golf Renault Zoe Smart Fortwo ED	59 5 34 4 2 2 1	70 69 68 49 35 33 29	2 2 2 1 1 1 1	N/A N/A N/A N/A 10 7 10
20 21 21 23 24 25 25 27 28 28 30 30 30 33	Peugeot iOn VW e-Up! Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Kia Soul EV Citröen C-Zero Porsche 918 Toyota Prius Plug-In Mercedes GLE500e Ford Focus Electric Opel Ampera Mitsubishi I-Miev Volkswagen XL1 McLaren P1 Volkswagen Passat GTE	2 1 7 4 2 1	23 19 19 16 8 7 7 6 3 3 2  2 2 1	1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	17 12 18 18 23 21 23 N/A N/A 16 18 N/A 23 N/A
	TOTAL	351	3.899	100

Source: febiac.be

* - 8 Bev + 15 Rex

Plug-Ins Versus Regular Hybrids

Pl	Model	2015
1	Toyota Auris Hybrid	2.686
2	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	1.687
3	Tesla Model S	820
4	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In	788
5	Lexus NX300h	622

  
If we combine regular hybrid sales with plug-ins, it is easy to see that only the Auris Hybrid and Yaris Hybrid, both from Toyota, are out of reach, as both have achieved something that plug-ins have yet to do: Reach mainstream audience. Which EV model will be the first to do so? And when? Will we have to wait for 2017 to see it?

Austria December 2015 (Updated)

Tesla Wins Austria 

217 new EV's were registered in Austria last month, up 23% regarding the same month last year.

Looking at the models ranking, the Tesla Model S is the new undisputed king of the EV ranking, with 18% share and 492 units, 23% above the previous record set last year by the Renault Zoe (387 sales).

But what about Tesla's real competition? All of them are still high above the Californian, with the Audi A6 and BMW 5-Series in the four-digit area and the Merc E-Class with double the sales. A lot of room to grown here...

Looking at the remaining front runner seats, this year the Renault Zoe was beaten by the BMW i3 Arch-Rival, which ended in Second.

In the manufacturers ranking, Tesla won its first title (18% Share), with last year winner, Renault, dropping to Third Place (13%), surpassed by Volkswagen, with 14% Share. 

Looking into 2016, the growth will continue on a moderate pace, losing ground to neighboring countries (Switzerland...), if the 4.000 units are achieved by 31st December, 2016, it will be considered a good year.

Pl	Austria	Dec.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1	Tesla Model S	41	492	18	4
2 3	BMW i3 Renault Zoe	26 34	291 279	10 10	2 1
4 5 6 7 8	Audi A3 e-Tron e) Volkswagen Golf GTE e) Mitsu Outlander PHEV e) Volvo V60 Plug-In Kia Soul EV	20 25 15 15 7	240 200 180 170 165	9 7 6 6 6	N/A N/A 8 6 14
9	Nissan Leaf	1	156	6	5
10 11 12	Volkswagen e-Golf Renault Twizy Mercedes B-Class ED	4 1 8	122 75 71	6 3 3	11 8 N/A
13 14 14	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In e) Volkswagen e-Up BMW i8	5 4 5	60 58 58	2 3  3	N/A 3 N/A
16	Smart Fortwo ED		44	2	9
17	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	2	33	1	12
18 18 20 21 22	Toyota Prius Plug-In e) Porsche Panamera Plug-In Porsche 918 Citröen C-Zero Peugeot iOn	5 2 2	30 30 13 12 9	1 1 1 1 0	N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
21 22 22	Ford Focus Electric Mitsubishi I-Miev Opel Ampera		4 3 3	0  0 0	15 13 10
22	Volkswagen XL1		3	0	N/A
	TOTAL	217	2.801	100

Source: http://myampera.wordpress.com

Germany December 2015

Kia Soul EV Superstar *

For the first time ever, the 3.000 sales barrier was surpassed last month in Germany, registering 3.179 units, up 104% regarding the same month last year, with the EV Share ending the year at a record 0.75%, a significant departure from 2014, having recorded at the time 0.44% share. 

Total sales in 2015 mounted to 24.171 units, a 83% increase over last year.

The Kia Soul EV ended the year with another amazing performance, registering 918* units, relegating the Renault Zoe (450 units) back to Second Place, an interesting stat on the french hatch is that three out the best four performances in this market came in the last three months of the year, does this mean that the Zoe is finally living up to its full sales potential?

Below the Top Two, the BMW i3 posted an impressive 334 units, its second sales record in a row, the VW Passat GTE was Fourth, and the Tesla Model S posted an impressive Fifth Spot, with a personal best score of 234 units, enough to beat such illustrious competitors like the Porsche Panamera (78 units), BMW 6-Series (120) or Audi A7 (217), losing out only to the Mercedes CLS (326 sales), in the Four-Door-Sports-Sedan-Thingy competition.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Kia Soul EV	918
2	Renault Zoe	450
3	BMW i3	334
4	Volkwagen Passat GTE	244
5	Tesla Model S	234

Looking at the YTD ranking, plenty of changes as usual, the BMW i3 jumped to #2, surpassing the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and VW Golf GTE, while the Renault Zoe another position to #6, relegating the Tesla Model S to #7, a curious fact regarding the all-electric sedan is that despite seeing its sales increase 94% YoY, it actually fell one position regarding the 2014 ranking.

But, as we all know it, the EV ranking isn't the real success measure for Tesla, as its real competition have ICE motors, if we compare it with other four-door-sports-sedans, all playing at home, the Model S is still behind them (1.582 units for the "S" vs 1.751 for Porsche Panamera, 2.164 for the BMW 6-Series, 4.129 for the Audi A7 and 5.122 for the Mercedes CLS), but if the Californian sales grow by 50% next year, Porsche and BMW can be beaten at their own home... 

The Volkswagen Passat GTE switched positions with the Nissan Leaf, climbing to #9, while the Mercedes C350e climbed two positions to #13.

In the manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen (20% Share) won its first manufacturers title, followed by Kia (16%), while last year front runner, BMW, ended in Third with 13% share.

Below, you will find the 2015 Trophy Room:

Best Selling BEV & Small Car: Kia Soul EV, 3.839 units. the Surprise Of The Year*, representing a 72% jump over the 2014 result, achieved by the BMW i3;

Best Selling PHEV & SUV: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, 2.128 units. The japanese SUV repeated the same trophies of 2014, while at the same time doubled sales and won its first podium, ending 2015 in Third;

Rookie Of The Year: Volkswagen Passat GTE, 996 units. Volkswagen willing, this could be a serious candidate for the Best Seller Trophy;

Looking at the BEV / PHEV breakdown, PHEV's increased significantly their share, growing from 25% in 2014, to the current 41%, thanks in most part to new models in the market, so expect this trend to go throughout 2016.

It is hard to predict 2016 in this market, as it is fertile in surprises, but i would say the VW Passat GTE will become a major player, while the Renault Zoe might finally see its sales increase significantly. Expect new models to appear and make an impact, especially the VW Tiguan GTE. As for sales predictions, i would say that fast growth will continue, so my guess will be around 35-40k units. 

Pl	Germany	Dec.	YTD'15	%	'14 Pl
1	Kia Soul EV	918	3.839	16	28
2	BMW i3 (1)	324	2.271	9	1
3	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	131	2.128	9	5
4	Volkswagen Golf GTE	143	2.109	9	13
5	Audi A3 e-Tron	98	1.839	8	10
6	Renault Zoe	450	1.787	7	3
7 8 9	Tesla Model S Volkswagen e-Golf Volkswagen Passat GTE	234 45 244	1.582 1.092 996	7 5 4	6 8 N/A
10	Nissan Leaf	27	948	4	7
11	Smart Fortwo ED	16	676	3	2
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 33 36 36 38 39 40	Volkswagen e-Up! Mercedes C350e   e) Mercedes B-Class ED Renault Twizy BMW i8 Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Volvo V60 Plug-In Mercedes S500e   e) BMW 225xe Act. T. PHEV Renault Kangoo ZE e) BMW X5 40e PHEV Porsche Panamera Plug-In Audi Q7 e-Tron Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Toyota Prius Plug-In Mitsubishi I-Miev Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-in Mercedes GLE500e Porsche 918 Opel Ampera BMW 330e Ford Focus Electric Peugeot Partner EV Citröen Berlingo EV Citröen C-Zero Peugeot iOn Audi R8 e-Tron Renault Fluence ZE Volkswagen XL1	39 119 28 26 15 19 74 20 2 15 26 16 18 21 3 4 71 15 1 1 1 3 2	547 501 485 435 393 356 321 267 263 180 163 157 155 148 112 98 77 75 46 24 19 15 15 15 12 12 6 5 2	2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	4 N/A 16 9 11 19 12 20 N/A N/A N/A 14 N/A 21 15 N/A N/A N/A 25 18 N/A 26 N/A N/A 24 23 N/A 31 N/A
	TOTAL	3.179	24.171	100

(1) - 124 Bev + 210 Rex

* - In a possibly related topic, in 2015 there were 2.000 Kia Soul EV's imported to Norway...

Source: kba.de

UK December 2015 (Top 5)

Second Win for the Outlander PHEV

An amazing 28.000 plug-ins were sold in 2015, doubling the numbers of last year, with the EV Share now north of 1%, almost doubling the result of last year (1.07% vs 0.56%).

Looking at the models ranking, the Mitsu Outlander PHEV ended miles away from Second Place Nissan Leaf, itself also comfortably ahead of the Third Placed, the BMW i3, while the Renault Zoe ended in #4, resulting in 2015 repeating last year Top 4 positions.

In the manufacturers ranking, Mitsubishi (41% Share) won its second consecutive manufacturers title, followed by Nissan (21%) and BMW (11%).

Below, you will find the 2015 Trophy Room:

Best Selling Small Car: BMW i3, 2.213 units. After another close run with the Renault Zoe, the Bimmer hot hatch managed to win once again the Best Selling Small Car title, with their sales growing 59% YoY;

Rookie Of The Year: Volkswagen Golf GTE, 1.500 units. As expected, the german model had a warm welcome in hot hatch land, shooting to #5 in the Final Ranking.

In 2016 the VW GTE relatives (Golf & Passat) will try to dent the front-runners domination, while at the same time luxury SUV's will be on the high. As for sales predictions, i would say that growth will continue, albeit on a more moderate pace, so my guess will be some 40.000 units. 

Pl	UK	Dec.	2015	%	Pl. '14
1	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	638	11.681	41	1
2	Nissan Leaf	559	5.236	19	2
3 4 5	BMW i3 Renault Zoe Volkswagen Golf GTE e) Others	413 301 150 1.029	2.213 2.053 1.500 5.505	8 7 5 19	3 4 N/A
	TOTAL	3.090	28.188	100

Source: fleetnews.co.uk; SMMT

Slovenia December 2015

Renault Edition

A total of 108 units were registered this year, which is a 170% improvement over last year and more than all the previous years combined, translating in an EV Share of 0,18% (Versus 0,05% a year ago), a number that makes 2015 the Year One for EV's in Slovenia.

Renault is leading the market, with the Zoe registering 41 units in 2015, and with the help of the tiny Twizy and Kangoo ZE van, Renault ended the year owning 44% of this admittedly (still) small market and winning its first Slovenian Manufacturers title, right on its landing year.

Looking elsewhere, the BMW i3 (28 units) ended the year in #2, followed by the Nissan Leaf in Third (14).

Two interesting facts:

- The BMW i8 registered five units, enough to be the second best selling sports car, only behind the much cheaper Audi TT (15 units), while the Bimmer ICE nemesis, the Porsche 911, only registered two units.

- Tesla registered 8 units this year, down 5 units regarding 2014 and losing the Best Seller status won last year. An unusual weak performance for the american brand, that has been beating sales records everywhere and even menacing their competition that don't wear a plug. Not the case of Slovenia, where the ICE Best Seller in its class was the BMW 5-Series, with 293 units and even the Mercedes CLS sold 15 units...

Pl	Slovenia	Dec.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1 2	Renault Zoe BMW i3	2 1	41 28	38 26	N/A 4
3	Nissan Leaf		15	14	2
4	Tesla Model S		8	7	1
5 6 7 7 7 7 7	Renault Twizy BMW i8 Volkswagen XL1 Opel Ampera Renault Kangoo ZE Kia Soul EV Citröen C-Zero	1 1	6 5 1 1 1 1 1	6 5 1 1 1 1 1	N/A N/A N/A 3 N/A N/A N/A
TOTAL		5	108	100

Source: http://www.ads-slo.org/statistika/