Belgium December 2013

Volvo won the EV Best Seller title in Belgium

Photo-Finish Win Edition

Thanks to the valuable contribution of our reader Piet Roobrouck, we have more exclusive data on the EV market in Belgium, allowing a full year ranking.

824 plug-ins were sold, with an EV Share of 0,17%, far from the numbers of their northern neighbors, but respectable numbers nevertheless.

In a fragmented market, where the leader had just 19% share, the Volvo V60 Plug-In won the Best Seller Title with 153 units, followed very closely by the Tesla Model S, just 5 units behind.

In third was the Nissan Leaf, also close to the top (141 units, just 12 units behind Volvo).

Further down the ranking, we see two newcomers making an impact, the BMW i3 was #2 in December, with 17 units and the Panamera Plug-In landed with 6 registrations, a good start for Porsche.

Looking at the brands ranking, Renault ended at #1 with 25% share, followed by Volvo (19% share) and Tesla (18%).

Looking ahead, it will be entertaining to see the 2014 race in Belgium, with plenty of candidates at #1, not only we have the Top 3 of this year (V60, Model S and Leaf), but the BMW i3 and Outlander PHEV will also make an impact here. 

Pl	Belgium	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Volvo V60 Plug-In	17	153	19	N/A
2	Tesla Model S	39	148	18	N/A
3	Nissan Leaf	11	141	17	4
4	Renault Twizy e)	5	115	14	1
5	Renault Zoe	12	85	10	N/A
6	Smart Fortwo ED	3	59	7	N/A
7	BMW i3	17	32	4	N/A
8	Opel Ampera	1	31	4	2
9	Fisker Karma		13	2	7
10	Mitsubishi I-Miev		12	1	10
11	Renault Fluence ZE		8	1	5
12	Porsche Panamera Plug-In	6	6	1	N/A
13	Mia Electric		5	1	10
14 14 14 14 18 19 19	Peugeot iOn Chevrolet Volt Toyota Prius Plug-In Volkswagen e-Up! Think City Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Ford Focus Electric	1	3 3 3 3 2 1 1	0 0 0 0 0 0 0	3 8 12 N/A N/A N/A N/A
	TOTAL	112	824	100

e) Estimate

Source: febiac.be; Manufacturers

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Australia December 2013

Easy win for Nissan in Australia

Baby Step Edition

Like in the UK and other countries, the complete Australian sales data is only available every Quarter of the Year,  so now i can post the full year EV sales there.

With 304 sales in 2013, plug in sales increased 17% regarding '12, which lead the EV share to increase 0,013% to 0,036%. It's a marginal growth compared with other markets, but the aussie EV market is still in its infancy.

Proof of that is that the Nissan Leaf was #1 with 188 units sold, more than doubling what it had sold during the 12 months of 2012, thanks to lower prices (Now under 40.000$) and Nissan's recent will to sell them. 

In second was the Holden Volt with 101 units sold, failing to reach the Leaf's top spot, but selling 21 more cars than last year.

Finally, in third and now withdrawn from the market, the Mitsu I-Miev closes the podium with 15 units.

Regarding '14, i think sales will almost double, the Leaf will climb to some 300 sales/year, the Volt might see a small sales decrease, which will be compensated by sales from two new players coming this year, the Tesla Model S and the BMW i3, the first has what it takes to be successful here and the second has been receiving positive reviews from the demanding Australian journalists, so i'm counting with 100 sales for each.

Australia	2013	2012
Nissan Leaf	188	78
Holden Volt	101	80
Mitsubishi I-Miev e)	15	95
TOTAL	304	253

e) - Estimate

Sources: www.bestsellingcarsblog.com

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Finland December 2013

Volvo is leading plug-ins in Finland

Volvo Tops Finland Edition

181 plug-ins were sold in Finland, two more than the year before, so for the moment EV's aren't on people's minds in Finland, unlike their immediate neighbors.

Keeping a curious trend, 2013 crowned a new best seller, the Volvo V60 Plug-In, succeeding the Prius Plug-In (2012), Citröen C-Zero ('11) and Think City ('10), maybe in '14 Volvo can break this trend and revalidate their Finnish crown.

In second came the Prius Plug-In with 45 units and the Nissan Leaf repeated last years third spot.

Looking ahead, Volvo is the favorite to be the best seller in '14 but, besides the usual suspects Prius and Leaf, Volvo must watch Tesla closely as the american brand has ambitious goals everywhere and Tesla suits well on local tastes.

Finland	2013	%
Volvo V60 Plug-In	66	36
Toyota Prius Plug-In	45	25
Nissan Leaf	41	23
Opel Ampera	17	9
Mitsubishi I-Miev	4	2
Chevrolet Volt Tesla Model S Fisker Karma Citröen C-Zero Porsche Panamera Plug-In	3 2 1 1 1	2 1 0 0 0
TOTAL	181	100

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Denmark December 2013

In '13 the Leaf was #1, will the Model S be the next Best Seller?

Breaking The Waves Edition

In a sea of small and compact cars, the Tesla Model S is making its way into success, December was the second month (September was the first) where it was the Best Selling EV in Denmark and it ended in #2 on the YTD ranking, being for the moment the most dangerous adversary of this year's Best Selling EV, the Nissan Leaf, which has sold 212 cars, a new record for yearly sales for a single model (in '12 the Fluence ZE had sold 198 units), and despite the Danish plug-in market ending with the same EV share as in 2012 (0,29%), there was a new sales record, with the 522 electric cars being sold there.

Third YTD was the Renault Zoe, with 92 units and 18% share.

Looking ahead for 2014, the Nissan Leaf will have a complicated life to renew the top spot, not only the Model S is already proving to be tough competition, but the VW e-Up! and the BMW i3 have also big ambitions, it is reported that the i3 already has a waiting list of several hundred cars...

All these new cars should pull the numbers up, i'm guessing that the 1.000 mark is possible if all goes well.

Pl	Denmark	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	21	212	41	4
2	Tesla Model S	33	112	21	N/A
3	Renault Zoe	16	92	18	N/A
4	Renault Fluence ZE		38	7	1
5	Volkswagen e-Up!	14	30	6	N/A
6	Renault Twizy		15	3	N/A
7	Peugeot iOn	1	9	2	2
8	Opel Ampera	1	7	1	7
9	Renault Kangoo ZE		3	1	N/A
10 11 11	Smart Fortwo ED Mitsubishi I-Miev BMW i3	1	2 1 1	0 0 0	N/A 5 N/A
	TOTAL	87	522	100

Source: www.bilimp.dk

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Estonia December 2013

An increasingly common sight in Estonia

Leaf dethrones I-Miev Edition

138 EV's were sold in Estonia in 2013 (0,69% EV Share), far less than the 506 sold in '12, when the Estonian market was only behind Norway regarding EV Share (2,39% in '12).

Looking at the ranking, the Nissan Leaf won easily the First Place, succeeding the Mitsu I-Miev as the Best Selling EV.

In was #2 Mia Electric, a surprising performance from the little french EV, relegating the I-Miev to #3.

In December, the first Tesla Model S was registered, it will be interesting to see how it will perform in '14, can it steal #1 from Nissan Leaf? 

Pl	Estonia	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	8	95	69	2
2	Mia Electric		22	16	N/A
3 4	Mitsubishi I-Miev Tesla Model S	2 1	20 1	14 1	1 N/A
	TOTAL	11	138	100

Source: mnt.ee

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USA December 2013

After a hard race, Volt succeeded in keeping the Best Selling title

"Leaf Wins December, Volt 2013" Edition

With 9.666 units sold in December, the US EV market ended in a strong note, although it wasn't enough to reach the 100.000 units, better luck next time.

The Nissan Leaf beat its previous sales record and won the December prize, although that wasn't enough to remove the YTD Best Seller Crown from the Chevy Volt, repeating last year title, but this time things were pretty tight, with the #2 (Leaf) remaining just 516 units behind.

In third was the Tesla Model S, that in the first half of the year it was even #1 YTD, a small feat considering the high sales prices they have.

In 2014 sales should be around 130k - 150k, with no great changes in the leading places, although Ford as a brand might surprise the current Top Dogs.

Pl	USA	Dec.	YTD	%
1	Chevrolet Volt	2.392	23.094	24
2	Nissan Leaf	2.529	22.610	24
3	Tesla Model S	1.500	17.650	18
4	Toyota Prius Plug-In	919	12.088	13
5	Ford C-Max Energi	827	7.154	7
6	Ford Fusion Energi	791	6.090	6
7	Ford Focus Electric	158	1.738	2
8	Toyota RAV4 EV	28	1.098	1
9	Mitsubishi I-Miev	11	1.029	1
10	Smart Fortwo ED	167	923	1
11	Fiat 500e	120	645	1
12 13 14	Honda Fit EV Chevrolet Spark EV Honda Accord Plug-In	51 76 38	569 539 526	1 1 1
15 16 17	Fisker Karma Porsche Panamera Plug-In Scion iQ EV	6 47	129 86 60	0 0 0
	TOTAL	9.666	96.034	100

Source: insideevs.com

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Italy December 2013

The Twizy once again was #1 in Italy. But the competition is getting closer...

Something In The Air Edition

The Italian EV market had its second best month of the year, with 188 units, ending 2013 with the EV share at 0,11%, 0,02 behind last year score.

On the monthly ranking we see something unheard in small-car-loving, pure-electric-friendly Italy: The midsize, plug-in hybrid Volvo V60 Plug-In climbed to #1 with 79 units sold! This is one of the strongest signs that something is changing in Euro-EV-land...

The YTD chart crowned the Renault Twizy for the second year in a row as the Best Selling EV in Italy, but this time sales were a lot less (432 units in '13 vs 1.545 in '12) and the competition were a lot closer.

Second place went for the Nissan Leaf, which sold twice as much as last year (323 vs 146) and finishing the podium we have the Renault Zoe.

PHEV grew from just 3% last year to 12%, thanks to the surprising V60 Plug-In, #5 in the ranking and Best Selling PHEV in '13.

Speaking of PHEV's, 2014 might witness many changes in the top places, not only the V60 will be a regular customer of the #1 spot, but Tesla and the VW boys (e-Up! and e-Golf) could be strong contenders here. And one must always count on the Mitsu Outlander PHEV to surprise everyone... 

Pl	Italy	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Renault Twizy  e)	40	432	30	1
2	Nissan Leaf	19	323	22	3
3	Renault Zoe	6	203	14	N/A
4	Smart Fortwo ED	9	155	11	8
5	Volvo V60 Plug-In	79	135	9	N/A
6	Citröen C-Zero	11	55	4	3
7	BMW i3	15	48	3	N/A
8	Renault Fluence ZE	1	38	3	7
9	Opel Ampera		19	2	6
10 11 11 13 14	Peugeot iOn Tesla Model S Chevrolet Volt Tesla Roadster Mia Electric	8	14 8 8 2 1	1 1 1 0 0	5 N/A N/A 10 N/A
	TOTAL	188	1.441	100

e) Estimate

Source: greenstart.it; Manufacturers.

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Norway December 2013

The love affair between Norway and the Nissan Leaf continues

"The Rise and Rise of EV's II" Edition

New record month for EV's in Norway, with 1.538 units, translating in a monthly EV Share of 13,5% and pulling the YTD EV Share to yet another record (6,10%).

Looking at the Overall Models Ranking we see the Tesla Model S climbing again to the top, with 553 units  and 4,9% share. 

The Nissan Leaf had an off month, selling "just" 337 units with 3,0% share and dropping to #8 overall and #3 in the compact/c-class cars segment, behind the Volvo V40 and VW Golf. 

The third EV in the Top 10 was once again the VW e-Up! registering 294 units and 2,6% share, enough to grant it a #10 overall and the leadership of the city/A-class car segment.

A new plug-in has landed, the long-awaited Peugeot Partner EV van was #4 this month with 156 units followed by the Volvo V60 Plug-In in #5.

The YTD ranking crowned for the second time in a row the Nissan Leaf as the Best Selling EV, with more than half of the market, followed by the Model S, firmly in Second (23% share) and the last place of the podium went for the VW e-Up! a car that has been warmly received in Norway.

The Best Selling PHEV title went for the Volvo V60 Plug-In, which stolen the title the Prius head in last month of the year.

Looking into 2014, the YTD EV share should end somewhere between 12% - 14% and Nissan Leaf will have a hard time to renew the best selling title, not only Tesla is running incredibly strong, but both the VW e-Golf and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will also be strong contenders. As for the manufacturers title, that should go for Volkswagen, thanks to the strong E-Up! / E-Golf tandem.

Pl	Norway	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	337	4.604	53	1
2	Tesla Model S	553	1.986	23	N/A
3	Volkswagen e-Up!	294	580	7	N/A
4	Mitsubishi I-Miev	22	367	4	2
5	Volvo V60 Plug-In e)	70	231	3	N/A
6	Toyota Prius Plug-In e)	20	200	2	5
7	Peugeot Partner EV	156	156	2	N/A
8	Renault Kangoo ZE	19	104	1	8
9	Citröen C-Zero	15	95	1	3
10	Peugeot iOn	3	88	1	4
11	Ford Focus Electric	10	83	1	N/A
12 13 14	Opel Ampera BMW i3 Renault Twizy	39	54 51 36	1 1 0	6 N/A N/A
15 16 16 18 19 20 21	Volvo C30 Electric Mia Electric Smart Fortwo ED Think City Buddy EV Tesla Roadster Fisker Karma		10 5 5 4 4 2 1	0 0 0 0 0 0 0	N/A 11 N/A 10 9 7 12
	TOTAL	1.538	8.666	100

e) Estimate

Source: ofvas.no; insideevs.com

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Netherlands December 2013

These guys flooded Rotterdam port and earned the dutch Best Selling EV Crown with it

Historical Landmark Edition 

This was such an over the top month that i've decided to do things differently:

EV Market in December - 9.309 Units

Due to fiscal changes in the beginning of 2014, Dutch EV sales in the last month of '13 were a freak event, with more than 9.000 plug-ins being sold in just one month, selling in just one month almost as much as the rest of the year and twice as much as in the whole of 2012...If this landmark will take years to be beaten by any market outside the USA, the December 23,8% share of the total market looks like Science Fiction for anyone, except maybe for Norway in 2015 or 2016...

#1 - Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV - 4.957 Units

At #1 with 12,6% share(!) comes the Mitsu Outlander PHEV with almost 5.000 units sold in a month, it's the best score in a single month for any car in the Netherlands in at least 10(!) years, and it's now the best month for a plug-in EVER, not only for a single market, but also worldwide (The previous record was 4.661 units sold across the globe, set by the Leaf in October). Oh, and on a side note, it took the Outlander just three months to win the Dutch Best Selling EV Crown...

#2 (#3 Overall) - Volvo V60 Plug-In - 1.734 Units

While the japanese SUV took all the spotlight, the performance of the Volvo was also something of an event, with 1.734 units, 4,4% share and third place overall. Just like the month before, both cars were in the Top 10 and both headed their category (SUV's for Mitsu, D-Segment for Volvo).

#3 (#16 Overall) - Opel Ampera - 703 Units

Even Good Old Ampera had a memorable month, selling 703 units (1.8% share), a new personal best and enough for a #16 overall and #8 in the compact/C-class cars, but still not enough to reach last years YTD performance (2.208 units in '13 vs 2.696 in '12).

#4 (#20 Overall) - Tesla Model S - 508 Units

The american beauty collects another personal best this month, with 508 units and 1.5% share, being also the Best Selling BEV on the market (In December and YTD), as well as being the Best Selling E-Segment vehicle by far, selling ten times as much as the second best selling E-Segment car, the BMW 5-Series, which sold a paltry 54 units...

#5 (#28 Overall) - Volkswagen e-Up! - 397 unitsThe little city car landed on a strong note, selling 397 units in its first full month and looking for 2014 with optimistic eyes.

Looking elsewhere, we see strong performances throughout the ranking (Prius - 386 units, Zoe - 205; Leaf - 110), while the BMW i3 scores its best result anywhere so far, with 225 units.

Looking at the YTD Plug-In Ranking, besides the aforementioned last minute crown of the Outlander, we also got the Model S rising to #5, the VW e-Up! breaking in to the Top10 at #7, just like other newcomer, the BMW i3 now at #10.

I suspect that the 2014 year won't reach this kind of sales (23.149 units sold in '13, 5,55% EV Share) here, half of these would already be acceptable, to repeat it would be great. To improve it would be a Amsterdam coffee shop dream.

Looking at the candidates for Best Selling EV, i think both the Volvo and the Mitsu are so far ahead of the rest that only they can fight for Number One.

Pl	Netherlands	Dec.	YTD	%	'12Pl
1 2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Volvo V60 Plug-In	4.976 1.734	8.343 5.906	36 26	N/A N/A
3	Toyota Prius Plug-In	386	2.364	10	2
4	Opel Ampera	703	2.208	10	1
5	Tesla Model S	508	1.127	5	N/A
6	Chevrolet Volt	5	745	3	3
7	Volkswagen e-Up!	397	588	3	N/A
8	Renault Zoe	205	547	2	N/A
9	Nissan Leaf	110	416	2	4
10	BMW i3	225	252	1	N/A
11	Renault Kangoo ZE e)	10	233	1	5
12	Renault Twizy e)	5	125	1	6
13	Smart Fortwo ED	12	77	0	11
14	Porsche Panamera Plug-In	8	59	0	N/A
15 16 17 18 19 20 21	Mitsubishi I-Miev Fisker Karma Citröen C-Zero Peugeot iOn Renault Fluence ZE Think City Tesla Roadster	7 15 21 1	52 48 29 14 10 5 1	0 0 0 0 0 0 0	13 8 9 7 10 12 14
	TOTAL	9.309	23.149	100

e) Estimate

Source: www.autoweek.nl; autoblog.es

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