Thursday, April 16, 2020

South Korea March 2020

35소 5960, Tesla Model 3 , License plate of South Korea

Tesla Model 3 new ruler in Korea 

The South Korean plugin market reached a new record in March, with 5.641 units, with the last three months doubling the YoY numbers, to 8.765 units, with the PEV share reaching a record 3,3% last month, pulling the YTD count to 2,3%.

This record performance is monthly due to the Tesla Model 3, that stole the Hyundai Kona EV thunder, being the new Best Selling EV, with an amazing 45% share, hitting 2.415 deliveries in March a new all time best for a foreign model, with the Californian being the first overseas model to lead this ranking.

Despite being removed from the throne, the Korean crossover can't really complain of its March performance, as it registered 1.639 units, its best result since July, with the Czech Hyundai factory now making units for Europe, Hyundai should have more space to allocate volume to its domestic market, so expect the Kona EV numbers to increase as the year progresses. 

But the Tesla sports sedan is not the only foreigner to shine, the BMW 530e jumped to #5 last month, thanks to a record 210 units.

A final mention to the Hyundai Nexo Fuel Cell model, a model that is seeing its registrations jump four-fold this year, to 1.230 units, with last month score of 730 units being a new record, making it a success story in Korea, a unique event for a FCEV, allowing the technology to have 0,32% share of the total market, a world best for Fuel Cells.


17 comments:

  1. How did North Korea do in March?

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  2. Can you post a global EV sales figure for q1 and compare it to q1 2019? Another question, are your global figures complete? E.g. are all major markets included?

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    1. The global stats are as complete as possible. By the end of the month, you will see the usual global wrap up.

      Basically, it's Tesla in #1 and the VW Group surpassing everyone else and rising to #2.

      Will be interesting to see when/if VW will catch Tesla.

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    2. Maarten VinkhuyzenApril 17, 2020

      For the Tesla <> VW comparison I would like to see it apples to apples. Or more precisely BEV <> BEV.

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    3. Maarten - Thanks for reminding me, will have that in mind.

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  3. Congratulations Tesla on selling 2.415 (Mar) & 3.939 (YTD) in Korean market.
    Hyundai selling 730 units (Mar) & 1.230 (YTD) of Nexo FEV is also an impressive feat.
    Though fuelcells are not as efficient as BEV, they are better than gas/diesel since these vehicles are powered by electric motor.
    Our objective is to reduce the gasoline/diesel which cause all the harmful emissions besides the CO2 emissions.

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    1. Yeah, the Nexo is an interesting success story in Korea. Maybe there's hope for FCEVs after all.

      Let's see what the Gen. 2 of the Mirai will do.

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    2. Hydrogen vehicles being more ecological than petrol/diesel is actually a big "depends". Most hydrogen today is generated from fossil fuels (usually natural gas), in which case the low efficiency of the whole system means it's often *worse* in terms of CO2 emissions than comparable combustion-powered cars. (Especially those running on natural gas...) And while hydrogen proponents like to paint a picture of a renewable hydrogen future, the truth is that even the proponents don't project that to happen before 2040 or so -- *way* to late to avert the worst of the climate crisis!

      (And that's optimistic, considering that economical factors work *against* renewable hydrogen, unlike EVs...)

      The one thing hydrogen fuel cell cars have in common with EVs are (near) zero tailpipe emissions.

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    3. Yes 96% of the worlds hydrogen comes from fossil fuels with only 4% from electrolysis.
      natural gas, oil, coal, and electrolysis; which account for 48%, 30%, 18% and 4%

      With the motors being 3-4 times more efficient than ICE, even the fossil fuel based hydrogen powered FEV should be better than ICE.
      Another advantage is that battery/charging system can be added to the same FEV for a 50 - 100 km range using the same motor, regenerative system etc. On a daily basis such vehicle can be charged from the grid and only for the long range drive, hydrogen can be used. In fact, current FEVs like Nexo, Mirai & Clarity does have a small 1,5 KWh battery to capture regenerative energy.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_production

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    4. While it's true the electric drive train in a fuel cell vehicle is way more efficient than a combustion engine, there are significant losses in the fuel cell; in the compression/liquefaction and transport; and the steam reforming itself is also pretty wasteful. On the other hand, a combustion engine can also be combined with an electric motor in a hybrid power train, to gain quite some efficiency... All in all, according to some calculations at least, a fossil-powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is definitely worse than a hybrid combustion vehicle -- and possibly worse even than a frugal pure combustion vehicle...

      Also, while it's certainly true that a plug-in hybrid hydrogen vehicle can improve on the footprint, so can a plug-in hybrid combustion vehicle...

      So as I said before, the only real benefit of hydrogen vehicles for the foreseeable future is in reduced tailpipe emissions.

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  4. Considering that (as far as I know) Korea has some of the highest EV incentives in the world, and also has some of the best domestic models, the market share is a huge disappointment :-( I wonder whether hydrogen propaganda might be discouraging people from embracing EVs?...

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    1. Yeah, it's something of a mistery for me too.

      Demand is there, after all, there's several waiting lists in Korea for the existing EVs, but for some reason, local supply is not ramping up production/allocation.

      Maybe now, after seeing Tesla stealing thousands of customers, they realize the mistake they are making.

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    2. Well, if it's a supply issue, not a demand issue, then it's really not much of a mystery. After all, the Korean models -- albeit surprisingly good -- are still pure compliance vehicles. They aren't profitable (per own admission, not just speculation): they exist only to fulfil mandates. As long as there are still supply shortages in markets where reaching compliance quotas is tricky (Europe), there is simply no reason for them to sell them elsewhere -- including the domestic market...

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  5. Hi Jose , what source do you use for Korean numbers? Any official government page?

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    1. Hi Andrew, basically there are 2 sources: Importers association and OEM data for local makers.

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  6. Hi, José! With the recent news about South Korean Gov. meeting with South Korean EV makers because of surging Tesla sales in the country and the supposed future cut of incentives for higher EV cars like Tesla, could you give us some last numbers for this market? Thanks.

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