Automotive
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| Expensive (51k €) and with a small electric range (31 kms NEDC), this Merc is one of the least interesting PHEV's on the market, but fleet owners in Portugal love them. |
Mercedes C350e #1
EV Sales continue on a healthy pace, despite August being a slow selling month (Locals flock to the Algarve beaches), sales were up, to 108 units, keeping the EV Share above 0.7%.
With four five leadership changes this year and three different models passing by the leadership, this is turning out to be one of the most entertaining rankings to look at, with August being no exception, due to a sales slump from the Nissan Leaf (8 units, worst result of the year), the fleet-favorite Mercedes C350e (18 units) rose to #1, with the Bronze medalist Outlander PHEV also off to vacations (9 units, worst result in 2016), the Merc won a precious advantage over its two direct competitors.
Besides Mercedes, there was another German automaker with reasons to be happy, the BMW i3 tied with the Merc C350e in the August Best Seller trophy, with 18 units, while the BMW 330e has beaten its personal best, registering 12 units and climbing to #7 in the YTD ranking. Were not the Bavarian sedan production constrained and it would probably outsell its Mercedes arch rival...
In the manufacturers ranking, there's also a close race, with Mercedes (18%) rising to the leadership, but Nissan (18%, down 1%) is still dangerously close, while the Third placed Mitsubishi (14%, down 2%) has BMW (13%) closing in.
| Pl | Portugal | August | 2016 | % | Pl '15 |
| 1 2 | Mercedes C350e Nissan Leaf | 18 8 | 195 187 | 17 16 | 5 2 |
| 3 | Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | 9 | 165 | 14 | 1 |
| 4 | BMW i3 * | 18 | 125 | 11 | 3 |
| 5 5 7 8 9 10 11 11 13 13 15 16 17 18 18 20 21 22 22 24 | Volvo V60 Plug-In Renault Zoe BMW 330e Volkswagen Golf GTE Renault Twizy Volvo XC90 T8 Renault Kangoo ZE BMW 225xe Active Tourer Kia Soul EV Volkswagen Passat GTE Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Volkswagen e-Golf Tesla Model S BMW i8 Mercedes B250e BMW X5 40e Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Mercedes S500e Toyota Prius Plug-In Volkswagen e-Up! | 11 5 12 5 4 2 2 2 3 5 1 1 1 1 | 102 102 35 30 25 20 16 16 15 15 14 13 11 10 10 9 8 5 5 4 | 9 93 3 12 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 | 9 4 N/A 11 6 28 12 N/A 16 N/A 10 18 16 20 15 25 N/A 20 8 14 |
| 24 26 27 27 27 27 | Peugeot iOn Audi A3 e-Tron Citröen Berlingo EV Smart Fortwo ED Mitsubishi I-Miev Mercedes GLE500e | 4 31 1 1 1 | 0 00 0 0 0 | 6 18 30 22 N/A | |
| TOTAL | 108 | 1.148 | 100 |
Source: ACAP
* - 14 BEV + 4 REX
Plug-Ins Versus Regular Hybrids
| Pl | Model | Aug. 2016 |
| 1 | Toyota Yaris Hybrid | 61 |
| 2 | Toyota Auris Hybrid | 51 |
| 3 | Mercedes C350e | 18 |
| 4 | BMW i3 | 18 |
| 5 | BMW 330e | 12 |
If we combine regular hybrid sales with plug-ins, the usual two (Auris & Yaris) are in front, followed by the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes C-Class (C350e), tied with the BMW i3, while another PHEV shows up in #5, with the BMW 330e appearing for the first time in this ranking.
