Monday, February 24, 2020

Finland January 2020

Image result for Porsche Panamera vs Volvo S90
Volvo: Big in Finland

14% Share!

Despite a harsh climate and small incentives, Finland has become a major plug-in market, thanks to some impressive growth rates, with 2020 continuing with the outlandish (+132% YoY) rates, and with the mainstream market falling significantly (-8% YoY), the 2020 PEV Share started at an amazing 14%, the first time the yearly share goes into two-digits, thanks to a record 1.443 registrations last month.

This continues to be a PHEV-friendly market, with BEVs representing just 12% of sales, as the 100% PHEV Top 10 shows. The Best Selling BEV last month was the Renault Zoe, that managed to score a record 29 registrations, ahead of nameplates like the Tesla Model 3 (13 units), Nissan Leaf (21), Hyundai Kona EV (25), or the Audi e-Tron (20).

Looking at the models ranking, Volvo got a 1-2 win, with the XC60 PHEV and S/V60 PHEV models starting 2020 where they ended 2019, and with record performances to boot, with these two Swede models alone securing 25% of the market for the brand.

But the surprise of the month was the thunderous landing of the Skoda Superb PHEV, jumping straight into #3, with 95 registrations, confirming the local taste for midsize wagons (there are 4 of them in this Top 10).

Another recent landing is the BMW X5 PHEV, that has started ramping up deliveries and started the year in #5, with a record 80 registrations, becoming the Best Selling BMW in the table, ahead of the #6 BMW 530e and #8 BMW 330e.

Another two recent reinforcements in the plugin bandwagon are the Audi Q5 PHEV, in #8, and the #10 Mercedes C300e/de twins.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, Volvo (32%) is a comfortable leader, with BMW (16%) in Second and #3 Volkswagen (8%), keeping a close lead over the #4 Skoda (7%).

8 comments:

  1. Did BEVs grow at all, or is it all on the PHEVs?...

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  2. uh, so no BEVs in the Top10 chart.

    "High PHEV penetration doesn't have anything to do with "suitability". It's simply a function of large incentive
    being offered for PHEVs, resulting in many people buying them simply to save on the purchase price, rather than
    actually being interested in EVs. This can flip very quickly when incentives are changed."

    ... sigh (&facepalm)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What are you quoting from?
      And why don't you think the high PHEV penetration is to do with suitability?

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    2. If it had anything to do with suitability, we'd see similar numbers in other markets... Yet neighbouring Norway and Sweden have *much* higher BEV percentages.

      While I'm not familiar with the specific situation in Finland, looking at other markets, PHEV dominance is *always* a function of strong PHEV incentives. In markets where incentives don't make PHEVs cheaper than the combustion-only variants, they never do that well.

      (This is less pronounced with BEVs, because a) very few markets have incentives strong enough to make them cheaper than combustion cars, and b) because unlike PHEVs, even when they are cheaper, BEVs will never be purchased by people/organisations not willing to actually charge them...)

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  3. And Tesla, the supposed leader in EVs, not even in the top 10.

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    Replies
    1. You new around here? Tesla is *never* in the top 10 at the beginning of the quarter. Check again in March.

      (Also, "supposed"? There is no "supposed" about this: Tesla is the undisputed leader in worldwide EV sales, and especially BEV sales...)

      Delete