Slovenia February 2020

VW e-Golf leads red hot market

The Slovenian PEV market is finally on the move, with sales tripling in 2020 (2,5% PEV share), with February representing the second record month in a row, with 171 registrations (3,1% share), helped by a regressing (-9%) overall market. 

The most impressive thing about these performances is that it's all thanks to BEVs, that now represent an amazing 96% of plugin sales...Has disruption reached Slovenia? 

Back at last month performance, looking at the best selling models, the veteran VW e-Golf is the surprise leader, with the German hatchback taking full profit from the current fire sale (as in, deep discounts), to score 86 units in one month, this model's best score in this market.

The relegated leader Renault Zoe couldn't complain much either, as it also scored a record 36 units, allowing both models to win a relevant advance over the competition.

A reference also for the 3rd placed VW e-Up, that thanks to refresh (and price cut), has jumped to the podium, making a 1-3 standing for Volkswagen.

One model that is being left behind of this sudden sales bonanza is the previous chronical Best Seller in Slovenia, with the BMW i3 showing up only in #5.

Is the German hot hatch losing charge?

BMW is also losing grip on the Manufacturers ranking, after winning the Best Seller trophy 4 years in a row, now it is only 4th, with 5% share, tied with Hyundai, while on the podium, we have Smart in 3rd, with 8% share, with Renault (21%) in the runner-up spot, while Volkswagen came out of obscurity into the leadership, with an amazing 44% share. 

Looking for EVs - From Slovenia to Poland

Fast-Chargers on highways: A must.

Slovenia - One of the good things about Slovenia is the existence of fast-chargers on the highway service stations, something that some countries with higher plugin shares tend to forget and it is essential to make longer trips more comfortable.

On the local EV fauna, we saw 1 Nissan Leaf, 1 Renault Zoe and 1 Citroen C-Zero. Oh, and a VW Golf GTE with Dutch license plates (they do like to travel abroad, don't they?).

It felt like a tourist (and EV) friendly place, and local radios weren't bad either, with the news being broadcasted in Slovenian, English and German (?!?).

3 EVs in Budapest

Hungary - We saw 2 Nissan Leaf and 1 Opel Ampera on the countryside, but it was on the fancy area of Budapest (Buda), that we saw an EV Bonanza: countless Leaf, i3's, e-Golf...plus 2 e-Up!, 2 e-NV200, 1 Smart EV, 1 Kia Soul EV, 1 Fiat 500e(!!!)...With plenty of PHEVs too, with the Opel Ampera everywhere, plus a few Prius PHEV and Outlander PHEV for good measure.

Despite this EV density, we saw few Teslas, 2 Model X and 1 Model S, while other Luxury EVs were completely absent. Are the local rich people averse to EVs?

Slovakia - We saw a few Toyota hybrids and 1 Outlander PHEV, otherwise...nothing much going on.

One Opel Ampera that must have migrated from Germany/Netherlands to Hungary...

Czech Republic - See Slovakia. Same story, but without the Outlander. Good radios, though, with Country Music radio and CAS Rock, a brilliant Rock radio.

Poland - We saw a couple of Nissan Leafs, 1 BMW i3, 1 Model S and...that was all folks.

Slovenia August 2019

BEVs to power

After a long absence, the Slovenian PEV market is back and it shows a changing market: if plugin registrations are down by 20% YoY, to 382 units, dragging down the PEV share, to 0,8% (0,5% last month), looking at the numbers in further detail, BEVs continue growing (+10% YoY), while PHEVs are crashing (-78% YoY!), being these last ones the sole reason for the current drop.

On the other hand, if this was traditionally a BEV-friendly market, now it is almost unanymous: 91% of registrations belong to BEVs, and it shows on the Best Selling Top 10: only the #10 BMW 225xe Active Tourer is a plugin hybrid, and this last model shouldn't stay there for long, as a certain Tesla Model 3 is #11, only unit behind...

Looking at the Slovenia Best Sellers, the popular BMW i3 is leading the way, but has the Nissan Leaf just two units behind, so this should be an entretaining race to follow.

Elsewhere, there are a few surprises, with the Smart Forfour EV showing up in 3rd, while the Hyundai Kona EV replaced the Ioniq PHEV as the lieutenant of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric Best Seller, all while the #9 Audi e-Tron is the Best Selling Luxury model.

As mentioned before, last year winner BMW is losing share (23%) due to the PHEV fall from grace, with Smart (21% share!) now following the leader closely, followed by the #3 Nissan (16%), while Renault (13%) and Hyundai (also 13%) are trying to reach the medals.

Slovenia September 2018

Nissan Leaf surges

The PEV market continues growing at a good pace (+53% YoY), allowing the respective share to hover at around 1% (1.1% in September, 0.9% YTD).

Slovenia's love for the BMW i3 is fading, with the Renault Zoe outrunning it for a couple of months already, while the Nissan Leaf profited from a record-breaking performance (27 units last month), to surpass the German hatcbach and reach #2.

Elsewhere, despite a slower selling i3, BMW has four models in the Top 4, which highlights the brand popularity in this market.

As mentioned before, BMW (30%) is a popular choice here, leading the manufacturers race, followed by Renault (15%) and Smart (15%), while Hyundai (9%), is just outside the podium.

The BEV/PHEV breakdown shows us that this continues to be a BEV-friendly market, with BEVs owning 65% of Plug-in sales.

Slovenia April 2018

Top 2 contenders in Slovenia

Record Month

It seems "Slovenia" is rhyming with "Record Month", as last month sales hit once again unseen numbers, with 86 passenger EVs registered, a new record, up 244% YoY, with YTD sales now at 259 units, or a 129% sales increase over the same period in 2017.

This rapid growth allowed April to reach 1.1% PEV share, and while the 2018 share is still at 0.8%, it won't be long until it crosses the 1% border. Will we see this market hit 1.5% by year end? If so, it would double the share (0.7%) of 2017.

Slovenia continues to be BMW turf (33% share), with the German brand leading the PEV ranking, with the i3 running ahead of the Renault Zoe, with these two models being the main players here, and also leading the PHEV race, with the 225xe Act. Tourer, with the MPV being #3 overall.

But the April numbers say that besides the Renault Zoe (23 units in April, new record), two new models can disrupt the BMW i3 lead, with the Smart Fortwo ED and Nissan Leaf both scoring 15 units on their first full sales month, a strong case in their bid to join the rather eclectic group of Slovenian Plug-in Best Sellers (Citroen C-Zero in 2011 & '12, Toyota Prius PHEV in '13, Tesla Model S in '14, Renault Zoe in '15, BMW i3 in 2016 & '17).

As mentioned before, BMW (33%) is leading the manufacturers race, followed by Renault (17%) and Smart (10%), while Hyundai (9%), is just outside the podium.

The BEV/PHEV breakdown shows us that this continues to be a BEV-friendly market, with BEVs owning 70% of Plug-in sales.

Source: ADS SLO

Slovenia November 2017

Top 2 contenders in Slovenia

i3 vs Zoe

It seems PEV growth is all around, and Slovenia is no exception, last month there were 56 PEVs registered, or 0.89% PEV share, up 81% YoY, with YTD sales now at 495 units, doubling the units of the same period in 2016.

With the plug-in share now at a record 0.74%, the needle is moving in the right direction, will we see it surpass 1% in 2018? 

A positive thing of this market it's that BEVs not only make the majority of sales (66%), but are also growing faster than PHEVs (+105% BEVs vs +94% PHEVs)

BMW is winning once again both the models and manufacturers (41% share) race, but the i3 is still being pressured by the Renault Zoe, with these two models being the main sales drivers on the market.

The Best Selling PHEV title is also in BMW possession, with the #4 X5 PHEV displacing last month its 225xe Act. Tourer sibling, by registering a record 16 units in November.

Pl	Slovenia	Nov.	YTD	%	'16Pl
1 2 3	BMW i3 Renault Zoe Volkswagen e-Golf e)	13 7 2	96 84 40	20 18 8	1 2 7
4 5 6	BMW X5 PHEV BMW 225xe Act. Tourer Nissan Leaf	16 6 2	33 32 26	7 7 6	14 5 12
7 8 8 10	Toyota Prius PHEV e) BMW 530e Peugeot iOn Hyundai Ioniq Electric	2 1	22 20 20 14	5 4 4 3	N/A N/A N/A N/A
11 12 12 14 15 16 17 17 18 18	Citroen C-Zero Tesla Model S BMW 330e Kia Soul EV BMW 740e Hyundai Ioniq PHEV e) Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Porsche Panamera PHEV Tesla Model X Volkswagen e-Up! Others	2 3 1 1	11 10 10 9 8 6 5 5 4 4 38	2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 8	9 7 8 13 16 N/A 11 16 N/A 15
TOTAL		56	495	100