Automotive
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| VW Passat GTE: Made For Fleet Managers |
Company Car Favorites
Over 2.000 units were sold last month (Or 6.8% of all cars in November), by far the best result of the year, pulling the YTD Market Share to 3.38%, this is because as the year approaches the end, fleet buyers are starting to do their Company Car shopping, with their favorite models climbing in the ranking, but more on that below.
Looking at the Top 5 ranking, the Monthly Best Seller award went to the fleet-favorite VW Passat GTE, with a year best 363 deliveries, followed by two other fleet-friendly models, the BMW 330e, with 264 registrations (New personal best for the third time in a row) and the Mercedes C350e, with 236 units (Year best also).
In Fourth Place we have a surprise, with the company-car-minded Mercedes E350e delivering a record 189 units, making it the Best Seller of its class, ahead of the Tesla Model S (129 units) and all other ICE cars in the E-Segment. Will the E350e will be able to beat the Model S and the upcoming BMW plug-in 5-Series in 2017? One thing is for sure, it will be an entertaining race...
Pl | Model | Sales |
1 | Volkswagen Passat GTE | 363 |
2 | BMW 330e | 264 |
3 | Mercedes C350e | 236 |
4 | Mercedes E350e | 189 |
4 | Volvo XC90 T8 | 163 |
Speaking of this class, currently there is an open three car race running for this class Best Seller Award, with the Mercedes E-Class now ahead with 1.469 units, followed by the Tesla Model S (1.447) and BMW 5-Series (1.422). My guess is that the Three-pointed-star model will win, but you never know what trick Tesla has up its sleeve in the last month of the year.
Breaking down the general ranking by fuel source, we notice that plug-ins are showing up regularly on the upper class rankings, with the Passat GTE representing 59% of all Passat sales, leading the D-Segment/Midsize class, the BMW 330e represented 53% of all 3-Series sales, ending #3 in its class, the Mercedes C350e was responsible for 63% of all C-Class deliveries, ending the month in #4, thus making 3 plug-ins in the D-Segment Top 4 ranking. It seems fleet buyers fell in love with plug-in hybrids...
And the trend doesn't stop there, the aforementioned Merc E350e represented 62% of all sales of the E-Class, while the BMW 740e is responsible for 73% of all 7-Series deliveries, being Best Seller in the F-Segment/Full-size sedan class.
Same thing in the Luxury SUV front, the Volvo XC90 T8 (57% of all XC90 sales) and the Audi Q7 e-Tron (78%) sharing the top two places.
In short, the November Best Sellers in four classes were PHEV's. Not bad...
In the YTD ranking, December will see a tight race for the leadership, with four models separated by less than 200 units, with all models expected to peak deliveries next month, everything can happen,, but my money is on the VW Passat GTE, followed by the BMW 330e, Volvo XC90 T8 and Tesla Model S.
Several fleet favorites have climbed in the ranking, like the Volvo V60 Plug-In (114 deliveries in November, year best), now #9, or the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (80 units, year best), which rose to #12, with the Mercedes E350e surged to #14, tied with the Audi A3 e-Tron (76 units last month, year best), while the Mercedes GLC350e jumped to #30.
The only positive news coming from the BEV front were the 36 units of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, improving on its previous month performance (21 units), but still behind the results of its HEV sibling (64 units). Nevertheless, it was the only BEV to climb in the ranking in a significant way, now at #24.
The only positive news coming from the BEV front were the 36 units of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, improving on its previous month performance (21 units), but still behind the results of its HEV sibling (64 units). Nevertheless, it was the only BEV to climb in the ranking in a significant way, now at #24.
Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BMW (21%, down 1%) seems poised to win its first Manufacturers title in this market, while behind it, Volvo (16%, down 1%), Volkswagen (16%, up 1%) and Tesla (15%, down 1%) run for the Silver Medal.
Pl | Netherlands | Nov. | YTD | % | '15Pl |
1 2 | Volvo XC90 T8 Tesla Model S | 163 129 | 1.466 1.447 | 12 12 | 7 8 |
3 | BMW 330e | 264 | 1.385 | 12 | 25 |
4 | Volkswagen Passat GTE | 363 | 1.280 | 11 | 6 |
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | Mercedes C350e Audi Q7 e-Tron Nissan Leaf BMW 225xe Active Tourer Volvo V60 Plug-In BMW i3 * Volkswagen Golf GTE Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | 236 141 25 94 114 57 87 80 | 979 647 590 560 398 387 367 313 | 8 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 | 5 N/A 13 17 3 12 2 1 |
13 | Tesla Model X | 47 | 296 | 3 | N/A |
14 14 16 | Mercedes E350e Audi A3 e-Tron Renault Zoe | 189 76 13 | 208 208 170 | 2 2 1 | N/A 4 14 |
17 | Volkswagen e-Golf | 6 | 135 | 1 | 28 |
18 | Mercedes B250e | 8 | 115 | 1 | 19 |
19 20 21 22 | Porsche Cayenne Plug-In BMW 740e Toyota Prius Plug-In Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia | 5 22 2 4 | 94 92 73 68 | 1 1 1 1 | 10 N/A 22 15 |
22 | Volkswagen e-Up! | 5 | 68 | 1 | 28 |
24 25 26 27 28 28 30 31 32 33 33 35 | Hyundai Ioniq Electric BMW X5 40e Kia Soul EV Kia Optima PHEV BMW i8 Mercedes GLE500e Mercedes GLC350e Renault Kangoo ZE Porsche Panamera Plug-In Peugeot iOn Renault Twizy Mercedes S500e Others | 36 3 1 12 2 3 15 4 | 59 58 52 49 43 43 28 19 17 16 16 10 16 | 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | N/A 11 24 N/A 20 27 N/A 25 21 N/A 28 18 |
TOTAL | 2.206 | 11.772 | 100 |
* - 54 Bev + 3 Rex
Regular Hybrids + Plug-ins Ranking
Pl | Model | Sales |
1 | Kia Niro | 580 |
2 | Volkswagen Passat GTE | 363 |
3 | Toyota Yaris Hybrid | 349 |
4 | Toyota Auris Hybrid | 302 |
5 | BMW 330e | 264 |
If we add regular hybrids to plug-ins, the surprise is the leadership of the Kia Niro, with 580 units (When do you present us with a BEV Niro, Kia?), with the usual Toyota best sellers relegated to Third and Fourth, both also surpassed by the VW Passat GTE.
Will we see a plug-in lead the ranking until year end?
Will we see a plug-in lead the ranking until year end?
Plug-ins have another representative, with the BMW 330e ending in Fifth, with 264 units.
