Germany February 2019

"Kiss my back, b*****s!" 

Tesla Model 3 #1 in February

After a great January, the German PEV passenger car market continued on the right track in February, up 24% to 6,618 registrations, with BEVs continuing to increase its share (70%, +1%) against PHEVs.

With the mainstream market posting its first positive result in 6 months (+3%), the PEV Share dropped 0.1% in February, to 2.5%, the same result as in the 2019 share, with BEVs alone hitting 1.8%.

Looking at February Best Sellers, the Tesla Model 3 landed with a bang (where have i heard this before?), by delivering 959 units and jumping straight into the leadership, displacing  the usual leader Renault Zoe, that registered 782 units.

The BMW i3 was 3rd, thanks to a near-record performance of 694 deliveries, while behind it we have the solid-as-cement Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, that registered 544 units, the SUV best result ever(!) in its 5 year career in this market.  

But the surprise of the month was the Hyundai Kona EV reaching the 5th Spot, that with 400 deliveries, broke its personal best for the 4th(!) consecutive month. Will we see it more often here? You bet you will...

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Tesla Model 3	959
2	Renault Zoe	782
3	BMW i3	694
4	Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	544
5	Hyundai Kona EV	400

The German PEV market is known for close races and constant changes, and last month was no exception, first of all, the BMW i3 rose to #2, benefitting from the dysmal performance of the VW e-Golf, that with only 281 units, it had its worst result in the last 6 months...Is the German hatchback already feeling the heat coming from the Tesla Model 3 and remaining long range BEVs?   

Speaking about the Tesla midsizer, the Californian jumped to #4, and is now going after the podium bearers, while the Nissan Leaf climbed to #7, apparently the 40kWh version of the Nissan EV still has enough juice in it to keep it in the Top 10, the question is, for how long? 

The BMW 225xe A.Tourer recovered from a terrible January and registered 335 units in February, allowing it to jump back into the Top 10, in #9.

Outside the Top 20, we should mention the record 92 deliveries of the Jaguar i-Pace and the 58 registrations of the Land Rover Range Rover Sport PHEV, two nameplates that have been slowly, but steadily, ramping up sales and could be a Top 20 presence soon.

In the brands ranking, BMW (19%, up 2%) is in the leadership, ahead of the #2 Renault (12%) and #3 Volkswagen (9%, down 3%), that experienced a steep fall, and now has  Hyundai (9%) and Tesla (8%) running just behind it.

Will we see Tesla reach the brands podium next month? 

Tesla Model 3 & the ICE competition

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Mercedes C-Class	4,774
2	Audi A4	3,951
3	BMW 3-Series	2,374
4	Audi A5	1,620
5	Tesla Model 3	959

One of the question marks around the Model 3 in Europe, regarded the impact that it was going to make on this side of the Atlantic, will it disrupt the PEV and ICE sedan market in the same way that it is doing in the US, or will it be more subdued, because it is playing away from home?

The answer is now starting to be written, comparing the Model 3 deliveries in its first month on the market, against its midsize premium competitors, we can see that the local heroes are still significantly ahead, although the Audi A5 is already seeing the Tesla in the rear view mirror...

Also interesting is to see that while the Audi's and the BMW model sales are stagnating, at best, the Mercedes C-Class is up 9% YoY, so it seems Mercedes customers are more immune to the Tesla fever than others.

Iceland February 2019

Outlander PHEV recovers #1

PEV sales were down in Iceland (-22%) last month, finally getting caught on the doom and gloom of the local mainstream market, but nevertheles, the 2019 PEV market share is still standing at 24%, the second largest in the World, so one can't really complain much.

Looking at the models ranking, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV recovered the leadership, having registered 56 units in February, allowing it to surpass the Nissan Leaf, that with 24 deliveries, had its worst month since August.

Looking elsewhere, BMW and the Koreans had reasons to smile about, with the BMW 530e up to #15, and its MPV sibling 225xe A.Tourer joining the Top 20, in #18, while the Kia Niro PHEV was up 3 spots to #7, and the Hyundai Ioniq Electric jumped straight into #12. 

In the brands ranking, Mitsubishi (26%) recovered the leadership, followed by the #2 Nissan (20%), while  Volvo (14%) is 3rd, with a comfortable lead over BMW and Hyundai, both with 9% share.

Regular Hybrids + Plug-ins Ranking

Pl	Model	Feb. Sales
1	Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	56
2	Nissan Leaf	24
3	Toyota RAV4 Hybrid	23
4	Volvo XC60 PHEV	12
5 5	Toyota Yaris Hybrid Volvo XC90 PHEV	11 11

In a market where plugins now have over 20% share, plug-ins are becoming more and more synonym with overall best sellers, despite not having full access to the mainstream models ranking, we do have access to regular hybrid sales. 

If we add regular hybrids to plug-ins in February, the high share of these last ones is noticeable, as regular hybrids are being outrun by Plug-ins, with HEVs only having two representatives, in the form of the #3 Toyota RAV4 HEV or the #5 Toyota Yaris Hybrid.

Looking at the Top 6 best sellers, we see representatives of each technology, with three PHEVs (Outlander PHEV; Volvo XC90 PHEV, and Volvo XC60 PHEV), one BEV (Nissan Leaf) and two HEVs.

As plug-ins continue to increase share, expect at some point in 2019 this Top 5 to be 100% PEV, with PHEVs winning customers that previously went to unplugged hybrids.

New Zealand February 2019

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV recovers #1 from the Hyundai Kona BEV hands

Plugins are a hot item in New Zealand, last month, 200 units were sold in New Zealand, up 111% YoY, and pulling the year result to 329 units (+66%), while share wise, Fevruary recorded an impressive 2.6%, pulling the 2019 PEV Share to a record 1.8%, already a significant improvement over the 1.4% of 2018.

Good news also on the BEV/PHEV breakdown, as all-electrics have been recovering ground in this traditionally PHEV-friendly market, now holding 47% of the PEV market, so it looks 2019 could signal BEVs overcoming PHEVs for the first time since 2013.

Looking at the models ranking, the 2019 leadership changed hands, with the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV scoring its best result ever, with 65 units, allowing it to outrun the Hyundai Kona EV, but something tells me that this duel will have more chapters in the coming months...

Last month we had a nameplate coming back from the dead, with the Audi A3 e-Tron delivering 15 units, on what could be the last swan song stock clearance from the German maker.

Another big news was the landing of the Kia Niro EV, that was #4 last month, with 11 deliveries, a promising start for the Korean Crossover, that should be on its way for a Top 5 spot, if not a podium seat.

In the Manufacturers ranking, Hyundai started the year as it ended 2018, being the surprise leader, with 27% share, while the seven times Best Selling Manufacturer Mitsubishi is in Second Place (26%), and Tesla (8%) is Third.