Automotive
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Renault Zoe Starts the year in Full Swing
The European EV market had some 19.000 registrations last month, up 31% Year-on-Year, with the Renault Zoe starting the year in the leadership:
#1 Renault Zoe – With the ZE40 version finally arriving to selected markets, registrations were up 80% YoY to 2.602 units, jumping to the leadership in January, winning already some 800 units over the second placed BMW i3. Besides the expected good performance at home (1.646 units), the French hatchback had also good results in Norway (240 units), Germany (180) and Austria (104 units).
#2 BMW i3 – The German Stormtroopermodel continues to profit from the 33 kWh sales boost, this time with 1.818 units being delivered. Besides the usual Norway, with 622 units, other markets where the Bimmer performed well were Germany (388 deliveries, up 160%!), the United Kingdom (210 units) and Austria (94). Interestingly, the fully electric version is outselling the range extended version on a 3 to 1 ratio, when twelve months ago, most sales belonged to the Rex version.
#3 Nissan Leaf – “Hey, remember me?” – The old warrior still has an ace up its sleeve, called “Discounts”. While it may be getting long in the tooth, currently it is the only model offering generous discounts, wooing bargain-seeking buyers, in January it delivered 1.386 units, seeing its sales increase 29% regarding the same month last year. This proves that besides range, price is also a decisive trump card to win buyers.
#4 VW Passat GTE – The Volkswagen midsize offering had a better than expected result, with 1.340 units, record results in Sweden (549 units) and Norway (411) absorbed most of registrations, but Germany (157 sales) also saw a positive month. With the right mix of electric range, space, power and price, the Passat GTE is a continuing success among company fleets across Europe.
#5 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – The Japanese SUV started the year on the wrong foot, registering only 1.114 units, down 14% YoY, as it failed to deliver in Norway (144 units, worst result in a year) and the United Kingdom (Down a harsh 75%), with the bright spot in Germany (282 units, best performance in 19 months), being unable to balance things.
Volvo XC90 Up, Golf GTE and Audi A3 Down
Below the top five places, the Volvo XC90 PHEV had a surprising 52% jump on sales, to 1.035 units, surging to Sixth Place, while the #8 BMW 225xe Active Tourer (687 units) continued its positive sales trend and two rising SUV’s, the #10 Mercedes GLC350e (629 units, new personal best) and #11 Tesla Model X (586 units, new off-peak record), confirmed once again what we all have been suspecting plug-in SUV’s are a Thing now.
On the losers side, if the VW Golf GTE (406 units, worst performance in three years) performance is excused by the upcoming restyle, its Audi sibling, the A3 e-Tron does not have any excuse to justify the rather disappointing 385 registrations. Or does it? Is Audi about to increase the battery size of its hatchback plug-in? Mmmm…
A (relative) hot item is the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, if it weren’t for availabilty constraints, the Korean would probably already be in the Top 10.
In the manufacturers ranking, BMW started where it left off last year, in the leadership, with 21% share, followed by Renault (15%) in Second Place and Volkswagen (12%) in Third. A surprise follows in Fourth Place, with Mercedes showing up just below the podium, with 10% share.
Pl | Europe | Jan. | 2017 | % | '16Pl |
1 | Renault Zoe | 2.602 | 2.602 | 14 | 1 |
2 | BMW i3 | 1.818 | 1.818 | 9 | 4 |
3 | Nissan Leaf | 1.386 | 1.386 | 7 | 3 |
4 5 | Volkswagen Passat GTE Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | 1.340 1.114 | 1.340 1.114 | 7 6 | 5 2 |
6 7 | Volvo XC90 T8 Tesla Model S | 1.053 819 | 1.053 819 | 6 4 | 9 6 |
8 | BMW 225xe Active Tourer | 687 | 687 | 4 | 13 |
9 | Mercedes C350e | 672 | 672 | 4 | 8 |
10 | Mercedes GLC350e | 629 | 629 | 3 | 26 |
11 12 | Tesla Model X BMW 330e | 586 525 | 586 525 | 3 3 | 20 10 |
13 14 | BMW X5 40e Hyundai Ioniq Electric | 495 474 | 495 474 | 3 2 | 14 32 |
15 | Kia Soul EV | 422 | 422 | 2 | 15 |
16 | Volkswagen Golf GTE | 406 | 406 | 2 | 7 |
17 | Audi A3 e-Tron | 385 | 385 | 2 | 11 |
18 19 20 | Audi Q7 e-Tron Volvo V60 Plug-In Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Others | 376 325 322 2.589 | 376 325 322 2.589 | 2 2 2 14 | 19 17 16 |
TOTAL | 19.025 | 19.025 | 100 |
