Netherlands March 2013

Opel Ampera's sporty wheels

Crisis Edition - Chapter Three

The auto dutch market is down 31% and the plug in segment is suffering even more, with its market share shrinking to 0,64%, when in 2012 it was at a healthy 1,1%.

With 144 units sold in March, the Opel Ampera is as always far and away in #1, with the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt exchanging positions this month, with the japanese relegating the american to #3, although the Chevy is still #2 YTD.

The Renault Zoe makes its first appearance, registering three units. Renault has high hopes for the Zoe in the Netherlands, unlike in other euro markets, where it's a dominating force, the french manufacturer is marginal here, scoring just 7% share.

Pl	Netherlands	Mar'13	YTD'13	%
1	Opel Ampera	144	463	63
2	Chevrolet Volt	33	100	14
3	Nissan Leaf	59	88	12
4	Renault Twizy	6	43	6
5	Fisker Karma	11	16	2
6	Peugeot iOn	0	10	1
7	Renault Fluence ZE	2	6	1
8	Citröen C-Zero	2	6	1
9	Renault Zoe	3	3	0
10	Mitsubishi I-Miev	2	3	0
11	Tesla Roadster	0	1	0
	TOTAL	262	739	100

Source: Manufacturers, BSCB

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Italy March 2013

Smart Fortwo ED with green alloys

Crisis Edition - Chapter Two

Another market feeling the weight of the economic crisis, with the total number of cars falling 13%, it would be natural that EV's would feel the stinch too, but thanks to the Renault Twizy and Smart Fortwo ED, electric sales actually grew 178% regarding last year, although share is a still symbolic 0,05%. Expect it to grow as the warm weather sets in and people go for the summer-friendly Twizy...

Looking at the models ranking, there were only three models selling significantly: The Twizy holds on to #1,  selling 93 units YTD, in second the Nissan Leaf sells a mere 34 units and thanks to a good sales month in March (20 units), the Smart Fortwo ED jumps to #3, staying now just 12 units behind the sales it had in the whole of 2012 and promising a good year for the tiny Daimler EV representative.

Pl	Italy	Mar'13	YTD'13		March'12	13 vs '12
1	Renault Twizy	43	93		a)	a)
2	Nissan Leaf	8	34		6	33,33%
3	Renault Fluence ZE	5	8		0	-
4	Citröen C-Zero	0	1		6	-100,00%
5	Peugeot iOn	2	6		13	-84,62%
6	Smart Fortwo ED	20	25		3	566,67%
7	Tesla Roadster	0	2		0	-
	TOTAL	78	169		28	178,57%

a) Data not available

Source: Manufacturers, greenstart.it

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