Monday, January 18, 2021

Germany December 2020

 



27% share! Open the Plugin Gates!   

The German automotive market has opened the flood gates to plugin vehicles, with December setting yet another record month, with a little less than 83,000 units, PEVs scored an amazing 27% share (14% BEV) in December, making Germany the largest PEV market outside China, beating even the USA by a wide margin (394k vs 330k)...

In a completely disrupted market, while diesel (-31% YoY) and petrol (-20%) were down in December, all electrified categories were shooting up, with HEVs up 133% YoY, while PHEVs jumped six-fold(!), and BEVs did even better, jumping 7-fold(!!!), with the end of 2020 becoming a stampede into electrified vehicles, we have to the point where, despite tanking Fossil Fuel sales, electrified sales allowed the overall market to actually grow 10% YoY in December!

Now, how much of these events are related to last minute compliance of the EU's CO2 emission rules, it's anyone's guess, but regardless of this, it is proof that regulations do work and when pushed, Legacy OEMs are indeed able to comply.

The supreme irony of this, is that by forcing local OEMs to move fast into electrification in order to comply with the CO2 emission targets, EU politicians might have saved the local automotive industry from a future death at the hands of Tesla and Chinese OEMs...  

But leaving political considerations apart, after all this isn't Politico, and back at the German PEV report, the 2020 tally ended at 14% (6.7% BEV), so expect 2021 to continue with the current disruption, with plugin share above 20% for plugins and BEVs hovering above 10%.





Looking at last month Best Sellers, in December the VW ID.3 was back to #1, with an all-time record to boot (7,144 units), allowing it to reach the 3rd spot in the overall market, with the German hatchback finally reaching the volumes people expected from it, the next question now is: Will it keep up? Will it be be able to keep sustaned Top 5 scores in the overall market? Discuss.

Despite the Renault Zoe being relegated to the 2nd spot, the truth is that Renault had plenty to celebrate, not only it scored another record performance (5,349 units), but the small hatchback was #6 in the overall market, being also the best performing "true" foreigner (the Skoda Octavia was #4, but belonging to the VW Group, one can't really consider it a foreigner in Germany...), and being a French model, it is even more extraordinary, as it is well known the problems that French models have in succeding on the other side of the Rhine...As Renault found by chance the Magic Potion for future success?

In a Top 10 where ALL models had record performances, one should highlight the Tesla Model 3 crossing North of the 3,000 units mark for the first time, with the Hyundai Kona EV almost doing the same (it had 2,995 registrations), while in #9 and #10, we have two very different Volkswagen BEVs: The brand new ID.4 crossover landed in #9 in its first full month on the market, with 2,306 units, while the veteran e-Up city car scored a record 2,196 units, that added to the 646 units of the twin Skoda Citigo EV and 382 of the SEAT e-Mii EV, we have the triplets reaching an amazing 3,224 registrations, which would place them in 4th! Not bad...

This highlights another great month for Volkswagen, which placed 5 models (ID.3, Passat, Golf PHEV, ID.4, e-Up) in the December Top 10, with 4 other belonging to the Group (Seat Leon, Audi Q5 and A3, and the not-yet-dead VW e-Golf) in the Top 20!  

Other relevant performances regard the Daimler Group, placing 5 models (Smart Fortwo, Mercedes A, C, and E-Class, and the GLC SUV) in last month Top 20, 3 of them with record scores (GLC300e/de, C300e/de and E300 e/de), while below the Top 20, the three-pointed-star maker had 3 other models (EQC - 866 units, EQV - 648, GLA250e - 714) hitting relevant records scores...Now, that is what i call a production ramp up!

In such a high volume month, record scores were plenty, with three quarters of the models on this Top 20 table having best ever performances, besides the aforementioned, we should also highlight the surprising score of the Mazda MX-30, with 1,509 deliveries...Or is it, self registrations? Mmmm...

Outside this Top 20, we had more relevant performances, like the 719 units of the fresh Fiat 500e, that had its first full month in December, or the 963 units of the Nissan Leaf, a new record(!) for the veteran model, so the current EV fever is strong enough to pull the boats of all models, even of 10 year old ones...Interestingly, its Alliance partner Renault is already starting to get significant volumes from models other than the Zoe, with the small Twingo EV scoring 917 units in only its second month on the market, while the Captur PHEV had a record 806 deliveries in December.

Finally, the Volkswagen Group is ramping up another future Best Seller, with the Skoda Octavia PHEV registering 990 units in only its 3rd month on the market.
 



Regarding the final 2020 table, and comparing with the 2019 result, the most immediate thing that appears before our eyes, is that the market has diversified significantly, if in 2019 we had 8 models with 5% share or more, now we only have one, the Renault Zoe, and for that to happen, the French hatchback had to triple(!) its sales YoY...

This is a sign of a maturing market, as plugin markets leave their niche spaces and merge with the overall market, as more choice equals more diversity and therefore, lower shares of the total plugin market for the Best Sellers. Expect this rule to happen in more countries with high plugin shares.

Looking at the podium positions the leader Zoe won another Best Seller title in Germany, its 3rd in a row (and last?), while the VW e-Golf ended its career with a bang, with a Silver Medal, and the Tesla Model 3 managed to resist the VW ID.3 and keep the Bronze medal it had earned in 2019.

Still, having jumped from #11 to 4th in December, and missing the podium by just 62 units, one can say that the VW ID.3 had a good month, as the German hatchback real task starts in 2021, as it is expected to become the 2021 Best Seller (anything less and Herbert Diess will have a big headache...) in Germany.

There were other last minute changes, namely in #7, with the E300e/de full size model climbing one position and confirming itself as the default full size plugin choice in this market, something that surely provides good signs for the upcoming Mercedes EQS and EQE.

Speaking of Mercedes, the three-pointed-star maker had another model climbing in the table, with the GLC300e/de going up to #11, ending as the 2020 Best Selling SUV. Expect the Tesla Model Y to draw a big target on the Merc GLC back... 

The BMW i3 was up to #14, but even so, that paled with the runner-up spot it had in 2019, despite dropping just 9% in registrations, stagnant sales in a booming market quickly make a model irrelevant, and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can agree with that, from #4 and Best Selling PHEV in 2019, the Japanese SUV fell into #15 and ended more than 6,000 units behind this year Best Selling PHEV, the VW Passat GTE, all this despite seeing its sales grow by 8%.

Anyway, highlighting the good moment of the VW Group, the new generation allowed the Audi A3 PHEV nameplate to climb to #17, while the VW Golf PHEV also benefited from the new Generation to rejoin the Top 20, in #18.

Expect both models to become familiar faces in the 2021 table, with the Volkswagen PHEV in particular hoping to run for the category Best Seller trophy.

In the brands ranking, the leader Volkswagen (17%, up 1%) won this year title, finally beating BMW, while Mercedes (14%) won Silver.

Audi (9%) resisted a rising Renault (8%) and kept the last place of the podium, while last year Best Selling maker, BMW (6%, down 1%) this time was only 5th...From 22% in 2019 to 6% in 2020....Auch!

68 comments:

  1. BUT, But, but for years we have been hearing that Germany people would not be buying BEVs, that they want the noise, vibration, so-called soul of ICE of well made German cars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. fahrer

      Audi A4/A5: 46980 vehicles delivered
      BMW S-3/S-4: 52114 vehicles delivered
      M-B C: 41651 vehicles delivered
      Tesla 3: 15202 (+68.7% vehicles delivered compared to 2019)

      So Tesla, kiss Marys's harzz

      Delete
    2. I am not really sure what you want to say with this table of Audi,BMW, MB and Tesla sales?
      Its important to know that the vast majority of the 'new vehicles market' in Germany goes to either leasing/rental companies or company cars. The private sector is fairly small. Tesla has a very limited access to these markets since companies usually do not take Tesla into their fleets. If you would look solely on the private sector the Model3 would probably be ahead of them

      Delete
  2. Bravo Germany for hitting massive 82.778 units (27%). Even in PHEV heavy Germany, BEVs could take top-4. Nice to see ID.3 & ID.4 making waves there. Is ID.5 on the way or its going to be ID.2. Bring it soon.

    This is also good news. diesel (-31% YoY) and petrol (-20%). Shares of petrol & diesel fell to 37.6% & 21.7% respectively.

    Hope that next month ID.4 will stop into top-4. So BMW has only 1 model in 2020-12 and 2 models in 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ID.5 is supposedly on the way, as a variant of ID.4. (For the related Audi Q4, the second variant is officially confirmed IIRC?...)

      There has been mention of a MEB-based sub-compact at some point. I guess that would be called ID.2 -- but that will take a while to come.

      Delete
    2. I believe the "coupé" version of the ID.4 will be called "GTX".

      The ID.5 will be a Passat-sized vehicle (2022?), something VW badly needs for China, in order to compete with the Tesla Model 3.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, I originally saw rumours of ID.5 being the name for the Vizzion sedan/wagon -- but later, there were other rumours of ID.5 being used for the ID.4 variant... Who knows which (if either) is true.

      Delete
  3. Nice to note that USA had 330K sales. 2/3 came from Tesla. Now you know the reason why USA is behind Germany. Its all an 1-company show, its all going to change from 2021-01-20. All those oily forces that held the hands of automakers will hide into oblivion.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. True, the 2/3 domination of Tesla says more about the infancy of the US market than Tesla's merits.

      I expect this year things will start to change, with the Ford Mustang Mach-E deployment and the Rivian & Lucid start, but 2022 should be the real year for visible changes, Tesla will have the Cybertruck in full speed, GM will also have their new generation EVs rolling, the VW ID.4 will probably reach significant volumes and the startups will start to move the needle.

      Delete
    2. If the new administration restores full tax credit for all makers as promised, that will actually further strengthen Tesla's position...

      As for "infancy", I'd argue that any market having a large share of compliance cars is in it's infancy -- in that sense, the US market is actually more mature than Europe right now...

      Delete
    3. ???

      Are you implying the Renault Zoe or the VW ID.3 are compliance vehicles?!?!

      Do you see any non-Tesla model even reaching close to 60k units in the USA?!?!?

      Delete
    4. Any car that is produced only to fulfil ZEV and/or fleet emission mandates is a compliance car. Whether that is true for the Zoe or the ID.3, I cannot say -- but it is definitely true for the vast majority of other models available in Europe right now.

      If the US had a strong mandate like Europe, of course car makers would be pushing some mainstream models to reach something on the order of 60,000 units per year... But it would still be compliance cars, if the mandate was the only motivation for doing so.

      The clearest example of this are the Hyundai/Kia models, which are sold in significant numbers in Europe, where we have a strong mandate; but only in symbolic numbers in the US, where they don't.

      Delete
  4. Can someone explain why 73% of ID.3 sales went to fleet. Do they want to test with fleets first, but its already in its 4th month.

    "VW ID.3 surges 34 spots on November to land at #3 overall with over 7.000 sales, 73.5% being fleet sales."

    Didnt we expect ID.3 to sell in 5 digits in Germany. After all production started in 2019-11.

    https://bestsellingcarsblog.com/2021/01/germany-full-year-2020-sales-down-19-1-to-weakest-in-a-decade-vw-golf-leads-but-drops-33-4-id-3-3-in-december/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reason for 73% fleet sales of ID3:
      — CO2 penalty
      — private customers waiting for 45kwh variant
      — previous VW customers hesitating because operating of ID3 too difficult. ZOE is much more familiar
      — dealers reluctant pushing ID3 before Software update
      — Covid-19 lockdown

      Delete
    2. Maarten VinkhuyzenJanuary 19, 2021

      In Germany, Brittan, Belgium, France more than half of new vehicle sales are fleet sales. In the class of the ID.3 it is likely over 70% in Germany (and Belgium).

      It means that the ID.3 is an average car in its class as far as the market-shares in the sub-markets are concerned.

      Delete
    3. I'm pretty sure the Golf (and ID.3) class has below-average fleet share. Fleet cars are mostly larger, and usually more premium.

      Also, there seems to be a lot of confusion between actual fleets and "company cars", which is an entirely different thing...

      Delete
  5. Share of fuel in %age.
    Electric:14%
    Plugin Hybrid:12.6%
    Full Hybrid:13.5%
    Petrol:37.6%
    Diesel:21.7%
    Others:0.8%. I guess this is LPG.

    Electric has beaten both the plugin & full hybrids. Next target is diesel. That needs full strength of ID.4 and Model Y and some migration from diesel to plugin & full hybrid.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wish VW launch ID.3 in USA. If Golf can be sold, then ID.3 can also be sold. They gave phony reason that Americans dont buy hatches when in fact ID.3 qualifies to be a crossover like Kona, Niro, ...

    Fiat can also launch 500e at competitive price; not the 32K that they sold earlier. Their only model 500X will not help the brand sustain here.

    Audi e-Tron did not make it to top-20 and only 2 audi models are in top-20 and just 3 for YTD. Its diesel drinking boss is not going to let them make more BEVs.


    "Mazda MX-30, with 1,509 deliveries" Notorious anti-ev company, they will go to any extent to fool the people. Their petrol vehicles will face problem in selling in 2021.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. The ID.3 -- being the new BEV sibling of the Golf -- is the most classic hatchback there is. Your weird fetish for calling everything a "crossover" doesn't change that.

      The Golf is sold in the US, but it's rather niche. The ID.3 would be a niche of a niche. No wonder they see little motivation to sell it, considering that ID.4 will have a much larger market, and should be more than enough to meet the weak ZEV and emission mandates in the US...

      Delete
    2. Audi will, in fact, make more BEVs -- starting with the Q4 very soon.

      They are also leading VW's next-gen EV effort -- though that will take a couple of years to result in actual products...

      (But meanwhile, they will have several more models based on the upcoming PPE.)

      Delete
  7. Meanwhile, a new German study commissioned by the environment ministry found the subsidy-leeching emission targets-defeating PHEV fraud to be even worse than we thought: while private PHEV drive a decent 50% on electricity, company cars -- which make up 80% of PHEV sales -- only get a miserable 15%! That means that compared to the ridiculous 75% electric driving assumed for fleet emission calculations, they emit more than three times as much -- and likely more than comparable combustion cars.

    With that backdrop, I have a bit of hope that public pressure will finally force politics to remove the unjustified ridiculously high counter-productive PHEV subsidies, in spite of the strong auto lobby...

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    1. It surprised me that Mercedes is the most pollution car manufacturers in the world while avoiding CO2 penalties

      Delete
    2. Or at least change the PHEV subsidies, something like keeping current incentives for private buyers and decreasing PHEV incentives for companies, with the obligation to install chargers in workplaces in order to access the company PHEV subsidies. Other thing that would help would be to deduct VAT from the electricity used by those company PHEVs.

      Delete
    3. As mentioned before I would limit maximum speed to 80km/h if the PHEV is not charged every 600 - 1000km.
      Additionaly also if the battery is below a certain level for 3 days in a row.

      PHEVs will help people to move towards electric vehicles. Therefore incentives are important. But maybe incentives for BEVs + PHEVs are too high anyway.
      They help OEMs to make huge profits as Luca de Meo just admited.

      Delete
    4. +1, well said antrik.
      Corporate snobs are already leeches who lease the expensive vehicle at company cost.
      Now they are leasing PHEV only to run it on petrol/diesel without charging. What an atrocious act.
      State should seize the vehicle from them and give them a Wuling MiniEV, then they will know the value of PHEV. Only a person who buys a PEV with his money will know the value and will charge.
      Please raise your voice in social media to cut those big PHEV subsidies.

      Delete
    5. @ Jose Pontes: That makes sense. "PHEV incentives for companies" should be reduced. Company guy who uses leased vehicle wont care a damn about it and the type of fuel they use. Since cost of petrol/diesel is borne by company, they just use it for convenience and wont care to charge on daily basis. Only an individual buyer who pays out of pocket will charge to save on money and get ROI.

      Still the subsidy for any PHEV should be much less than BEV since these vehicles can travel 100% on fuel without any charging.

      Delete
    6. I think need to start with myself.Including in the table PHEV we indirectly support this technology
      José Pontes
      I ask you to:remove PHEV from your blog

      Delete
  8. Winner in 2021 will be ID.3.
    Second spot could be E-UP (if not constrained by VW).
    Third will be Zoe.
    (if Dacia Spring is constrained)

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    1. I'm not aware of any plans to increase e-Up! production... It was just meant as a temporary stand-in, sold at considerable loss in order to fulfil emission mandates; until the new, MEB-based, presumably profitable models are ramped up.

      Delete
  9. Excessive subsidies, Excessive fleet sales, Excessive leases: I think some sort of scam is brewing in those European countries just like the sub prime mortgage in USA in 2000s. Hope there is smooth transition to subsidy free PEVs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. excessive fleet sales?? Why? German market had 60-70% company cars since more than 20 years. This is nothing new... Most people buy used, not new.

      Delete
  10. Again, Tesla far behind the leaders despite December being the strong month for Tesla. Tesla needs urgently to improve its value/cost ratio for not completely falling out of the top ranks.January numbers in Norway and Netherlands are already signalling Tesla fell back into the middle ranks.

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    1. January number for Tesla, as always, indicate absolutely nothing.

      (Aside from efficiency of deliveries before the end of the previous quarter...)

      Delete
  11. Whatever some biased opinions lead us to think, December was the peak on a compliance ridden Q4 2020.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Whether this fact translates into a trend I don't know, but E sales in January in Holland collapsed from 60% in Dec tot 5% in January. After 18 days ZERO ID3's were registered vs 6.000 in Dec

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maarten VinkhuyzenJanuary 19, 2021

      Yes that is the pull forward that occurs every year for electric vehicles. The opposite happen for fossil fuel vehicles.
      Fossil fuel sales in the end of the year are postponed to January.

      This normal in "build to order" markets. When placing the order a delivery moment is also negotiated. For electric that is "before the end of year". For fossil fuels that is "after New Year".

      Seasonality in Europe is very strong and different from the USA.

      Delete
  13. 2hansome says "After 18 days ZERO ID3's were registered" while Heinrich says "Tesla far behind the leaders" which implies ID3 is selling well.

    Who is correct and who is wrong?.

    Jan is always the lowest month for Tesla, that too in Holland, so no worries.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. In the Netherlands VW is offering ID3 at last year's tax rate. So they registered the vehicles themselves.
      Same thing I guess happening in Norway with Tesla, considering December registration.

      So maybe in March there will be decent numbers again.

      Delete
    2. No changes in subsidies/taxes on new cars in Norway. So that means that if Tesla self-registered cars in desember and are selling them on to customers now, it was to meet internal sales goals. Perhaps the goal of 500 000 cars sold worldwide in 2020. A bit sketchy to manipulate sales figures in that way.

      Delete
    3. Reportedly Tesla did self-register a couple hundred additional cars in Norway in the last days of the year. We don't know though whether they intend to sell these to customers later, or actually need them for internal purposes (loaners, demo cars), and simply decided that it would be easier to do this at the end of the quarter, instead of trying to get customers to take delivery in the last days of the year...

      Delete
    4. @Famlin: "Jan is always the lowest month for Tesla, that too in Holland, so no worries."

      +100!

      Delete
  14. +1 sale of VW ID.3 = -1 sale of VW Golf
    +1 sale of Audi eTron = -1 sale of Audi Q5
    +1 sale of Porsche Taycan = -1 sale of Porsche Panamera

    So these BEVs are taking share from its petrol/diesel cousins and not some Tesla model. Just for record; Tesla sold 499.500 vehicles in 2020.

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    1. Wuling Hong Guang sold 33,000 cars last month in China and 50% more than Tesla at an annualized rate of 400,000 cars in its first five months. This is a growth rate Tesla can only dream of. No insult for Tesla here, yet Tesla has to do something before biting the dust.

      Delete
    2. VAG delivered 9.3 mln vehicles in 2020. They're competing mainly with Toyota for the top spot. Their ~400k PEV sales this year is a step towards that goal in a changing market.

      Delete
    3. @Heinrich

      Wuling HongGuang starts at $4.200 and sold 33.000 units
      Tesla Model 3 starts at $36.000 and sold 23.000 units
      (4.200 * 33.000 = $138,600,000) < (36.000 * 23.000 = $828,000,000): Its simple math
      Costly car sells at lower volume than cheaper car: Its simple economics.
      Polluters will perish: Its simple environmentology

      If Tesla is going to bite dust, then Rolls Royce, Bentley must have gone all the way deep to EARTHS CORE. And what is going to be the state of MB, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Acura, Porsche, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, Infiniti?

      If you are Tesla short, I am sorry. Go long on Tesla. Oily admin is gone, a new green admin is taking up in USA.

      Delete
  15. Porsche Taycan base model (RWD) with 79.2 KWh battery goes on sale in USA for $80.000. After $7.500 federal rebate, it drops to $72.500. Its range should be much less than the 200 miles / 320 km since the model with 94 KWh battery has only that much range.

    Still Model S with 409 mile / 650 km range, AWD, 790 liters of space compared to Taycans 404 liters is a far better option. Model S is priced here at $69.420.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The single-motor Taycan might actually not have a much smaller range, despite the smaller battery... (And the single-motor large battery variant will almost certainly have the highest range of all Taycan variants.)

      Delete
    2. Folks, range and power is not everything in choosing a new car, especially outside the USA.

      For some reason the niche and expensive Taycan has beaten by a wide margin both the Model S and X in Europe...

      ...And the Audi e-Tron was the Best Selling Full Size Plugin in the World.

      Delete
  16. "The supreme irony of this, is that by forcing local OEMs to move fast into electrification in order to comply with the CO2 emission targets, EU politicians might have saved the local automotive industry from a future death at the hands of Tesla and Chinese OEMs... "

    Well wasn't that the intent off the regulations?
    The Future of the Car industry in Europe should be in the interest of EU politicans.
    It was the right move, traditional car producers are are sedate because of their size, the CO2 targets was needed to got them out of their comfort zone....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While it arguably *should* have been the goal, European politicians lack the conviction to intentionally push the industry into the future against its own wishes.

      China has a big head-start because of that...

      Delete
  17. MiniEV starts at $4.200 and sold 33.000 units
    Model 3 starts at $36.000 and sold 23.000 units
    (4.200 * 33.000 = $138,600,000) < (36.000 * 23.000 = $828,000,000): Its simple math
    Costly car sells at lower volume than cheaper car: Its simple economics.
    Polluters will perish: Its simple environmentology

    If Tesla is going to bite dust, then Rolls Royce, Bentley must have gone all the way deep to EARTHS CORE. And what is going to be the state of MB, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Acura, Porsche, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Volvo?

    If you are Tesla short, I am sorry. Go long on Tesla. Oily admin is gone, a new green admin is taking up in USA.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great news Europeans: Tesla reduces the price of Model 3 in Europe.
    Wonder why?. Average price of battery has gone down from $157 / KWh to $137 / KWh. Besides using cheaper LFP from China, mass production of components, improved process has made it economical.

    Model 3 Standard Range Plus: from €42.990 to €39.990
    Model 3 Lang Range AWD: from €52.490 to €49.990
    Model 3 Performance: from €58.490 to €54.990

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is great news!The first boat arrives 1-3 February.Let's see how competitors will act

      Delete
    2. Wonder why? Well, actually, the main reason is a significant change in currency exchange rates over the past year, that they finally adjusted Euro prices for...

      While Tesla does tend to pass on cost savings to customers over time, there hasn't been much actual price movement on Model 3 for quite a while now -- except in China...

      Delete
  19. MB has priced upcoming EQA crossover ~$46,000 price for its 265 miles / 425 km WLTP.
    This is a crossover that is much bigger than BMW i3, much higher range, price is just $2.000 more. Its time for BMW to reduce the price of its only electric model instead of acting up.

    Length: 4,463 mm (175.7 inches)
    Width: 1,834 mm (72.2 inches)
    Width incl. exterior mirrors: 2,020 mm (79.5 inches)
    Height: 1,620 mm (63.8 inches)
    Wheelbase: 2,729 mm (107.4 inches)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The i3 is a niche car, that naturally comes with a premium price, due to low production volumes. Unlikely they can reduce prices significantly without making major losses.

      They are instead betting on new models now -- though making the mistake of building them on a combustion car platform, instead of producing a mainstream BEV platform that can actually get good sales, thus enabling economies of scale...

      Delete
    2. @antrik
      Guess famlin was talking about ix3 not i3.
      I think price reduction would be a good idea for ix3 and EQA too.
      But due to Covid-19 they must be happy to have some margin right now.

      Delete
    3. Pretty sure he is not talking about iX3... EQA is neither larger, nor does it have more range than iX3. (And IIRC it's actually cheaper?...)

      Either way, I doubt either the iX3 or the EQA have a good margin. They are both expensive, because they are both low-volume compliance cars built on combustion car platforms...

      Delete
  20. VW Golf, a small yet functional hatchback which can carry big boxy items, long items like lumber with seats folded is discontinued in USA with 2021 being last year. Its a wonderful car.
    I hope they launch ID.3 in its place.
    https://www.teslarati.com/volkswagen-golf-ends-us-production-id3-id4/

    Seems the Electric versions of Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Niro & Kia Soul are also discontinued along with the plugin hybrid version of Ioniq & Niro. Notorious automakers are waiting for every moment to kill the PEVs leaving Tesla as our only hope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If they are discontinuing the Golf, that only cements the decision never to introduce the ID.3.

      Delete
    2. I'm not surprised Hyundai/Kia is discontinuing its compliance models in the US: given the weak mandates, most other legacy makers have already done that a while back.

      Also, the IONIQ 5 is coming soon -- presumably being more competitive and more profitable, and likely more than enough to fulfil the weak mandates.

      Delete
    3. "Tesla is our only hope?!?!" - Hello, 2016 is calling!...

      Things have moved on since then, maybe in the USA things are different, but that's not OEMs fault, it had to do with the previous mooronic US Administration, creating an anti-EV environment, while elsewhere (China and Europe), Government rules have forced legacy OEMs to go EV.

      Delete
    4. But that's exactly the point: legacy makers only make EVs when they are forced to.

      (And BTW, for all its faults, I'm not aware of the Trump administration having done anything actively anti-EV... Though of course they haven't done anything to support EV growth, either.)

      Delete
  21. Tesla price cut in Germany and France is about the EV leading OEM coming in sub 5% PEV market share in the world's 2nd and 4th largest PEV markets.

    It is awesome news for EV adoption and will become more common with the flood of new models arriving.

    I personally hope that Tesla is plugging in a few billion of their share issuances of the last months in new model developments for something more relevant for the European market and that can also fill the 500k capacity in Berlin.

    A 25k USD entry car - which is pre-tax and thus at same costs as a ID.3 with lowest range - could be a first step. Although it will hit a crowded market segment if it comes in 2023 realistically

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tesla price cut in the Euro zone is about currency exchange rates having changed significantly since the last price adjustment.

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    2. The capital raises are mostly for increasing production capacity (including newly created cell production): at the scale Tesla has reached now, R&D costs are much smaller in comparison.

      And BTW, with Model Y having a much larger addressable market, and Model 3 sales also expected to increase with local production, I think they can more or less fill the initial 500,000 capacity. Production of the more affordable future models will surely require further construction phases...

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  22. Interesting to see the annual development in Germany in 2020. Another proof that the real breakthrough needs political action and willing companies to accept the change. Once the industry is pushing into a new direction suddenly also the media coverage changes and the public opinion starts to accept the rEVolution.

    Please bring as many country reports as possible in January since the December reports always round-up the full year developments per each country.

    thanks a lot for your work!

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  23. #synopsis
    Of the 311394 vehicles registered in December (market up 9.9%), 82778 (26.6%) were PEV.
    For the year, a total 2917678 vehicles were registered (market down 19.1%), where the leading powertrain was gasoline vehicles (46.7%) with 1361723 units, followed by diesel (28.1%) with 819896 units, hybrids (11.2%) with 327395 units, plug-in hybrids (6.9%) with 200469 units, electric (6.6%) with 194163 units, and the remaining 13702 units being alternative fuel powertrains (0.5%).

    234969 vehicles from the total registered 394632 PEVs, capture the PEV Top20 positions, were the leading carmakers are VW group (24.7%) with 97378 units, followed by Daimler (13.8%) with 54500 units and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance (9.8%) with 38551 units.

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