2011 Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell |
The austrian EV market has nearly doubled their sales to 1.024 units, a fairly respectable number given the overall dimension of the local car market, with the Renault Twizy winning the pole position with 271 units, ahead of last years winner, the Citröen C-Zero, which sold 198 cars in 2012, 40 less than in the previous year.
Unlike other markets, where a single model represents 50% or more of the market, here it's more fragmented, with the #1 having just 26% share. But despite that, Renault as a brand achieves a comfortable 57% share, thanks to the good performance of their models (Twizy #1, Kangoo #3 and Fluence #4). With this successful background, things look good for the introduction of the Renault Zoe in Austria.
Now two curious aspects of the austrian market:
First, the 13 units sold of the Mercedes A-Class E-Cell, along with the dozens sold in the previous year indicates Austria as potential hit market for the electrification effort to be made by Mercedes this year;
Second, the best selling Plug-In Hybrid car was...The Fisker Karma. With
Austria | Dec | 2012 | % |
Renault Twizy | 12 | 271 | 21 |
Citröen C-Zero | 1 | 198 | 15 |
Renault Kangoo ZE | 1 | 185 | 15 |
Opel Ampera Renault Fluence ZE | 12 | 165 126 | 14 11 |
Mitsubishi I-Miev | 20 | 69 | 7 |
Nissan Leaf | 5 | 64 | 6 |
Peugeot iOn | 46 | 4 | |
Chevrolet Volt Mercedes A E-Cell | 15 13 | 1 1 | |
Fisker Karma | 12 | 1 | |
Smart Fortwo ED | 12 | 1 | |
Opel Ampera | 5 | 10 | 1 |
Tesla Roadster | 8 | 1 | |
Think City | 3 | 8 | 1 |
Chevrolet Volt | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Volvo C30 Electric | 1 | 0 | |
Toyota Prius Plug-In (a) | 0 | 0 | |
TOTAL | 60 | 1.193 | 100 |
(a) - Data not available
Source: automotive.co.at