Markets Roundup September 2013

Tesla Model S is making an impact in Europe

Tesla Crosses The Pond Edition

After leading for a few months the EV ranking in the US, the Tesla Model S is now making waves across the Atlantic, where for the first time ever an EV was #1 in the general ranking in Norway.

But it wasn't just in Norway that Tesla was #1, it also won the best selling EV crown in Switzerland, Denmark and Belgium, as well as #2 and best selling BEV in both Canada and Netherlands.

Trends in the G7

The US market continues on a high note with a close fight for Number One between the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, but the real news are Norway and the Netherlands, in the first case, besides the aforementioned Model S achievement, the global EV market also beat the monthly sales record, with 1.040 units sold, with the September EV share registering an out-of-this-world 9% share!

As for the Dutch Market, it's also on fire, breaking for the second time on a row the monthly sales record, now scoring 1.340 units, a formidable performance that pulled the EV share to 1,93%, double the share it had a year ago.

Besides these two hot markets, other two EV shares are also growing, in a moderate rate, like France (0,82% vs 0,66% in '12) and the USA (0,57% vs 0,39%), while the others are marginally better than last year.

After a five month hiatus, the Mitsu Outlander Plug-in recovered the monthly #1 spot in Japan, and is now looking to bring back the YTD leadership from the Nissan Leaf.


Other Markets

A surprising fact this month is that the Renault EV with more #1's crowns is...The Fluence ZE! Yes, despite selling just a few dozens, in September the french sedan achieved the Number One spot in Spain and Hong Kong, this last one is now a Renault stronghold, with the Fluence having 56% share there. With Renault-Samsung readying the production of the SM3 ZE in South Korea, the dodgy electric sedan might benefit from a second life in Asia.

Until the end of the year, another two countries will join the electric bandwagon: South Africa and South Korea, the first through the arrival of the Nissan Leaf, the second with two domestic EV's: The Samsung SM3 ZE and the Chevrolet Spark EV.


Fragmented Markets

With frequent podium changes, one might think that the US market would be the most fragmented market, only it's not, Switzerland holds that title, as a result of 6 different monthly leaders, the Citröen C-Zero (Jan), Mitsu I-Miev (Feb), Nissan Leaf (Mar), Renault Twizy (Apr & May), Renault Zoe (Jun & Jul) and Tesla Model S (Aug & Sep), the result is that the YTD #1 (Zoe) and #2 (Twizy) are separated by just one unit and both have just 21% share, 4% less than the Chevy Volt in the US. But that's not all, the #3 (Leaf) is not that far off, with 17% share and even the fourth, the Model S (13% share) has a shot of reaching #1 this year, so we're talking of 4 pretenders at the best selling crown with just three months to go. Interesting, eh?


Questions for October

1 - Where will be beaten the next sales records?

2 - Who will be the US #1?

3 - Who will be #1 in the Netherlands?

4 - Will the Zoe recover the #1 spot in France?

5 - Will the BMW i3 reach #1 in Germany?

6 - Where will the Tesla Model S perform better?

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EV Business Case Q3 - 2013

Tesla is banking on european waiting lists

Waiting Lists Edition

With several waiting lists around the world, mounting to several thousand reservations, Tesla has its hands full to satisfy all of them, right now Europe's waiting lists are being delivered, to be followed early next year by Asia and left-hand drive countries, so only in the next Spring on we'll see if Tesla sales isn't just a early adopter thing and can keep growing without the need of reservation lists.

Volvo also had a unexpected success with the Volvo V60 Plug-In, especially in the Netherlands, where in a certain moment it had a thousands waiting list, now being delivered, and now responsible for a surprising #1 spot there. A promising start for the swedish automaker.

Speaking of Netherlands, Mitsubishi has allegedly a 8.000 waiting list in the Low Countries and more than 10.000 reservations of the Outlander Plug-In in Europe, an already enormous number that still has the thousands of japanese reservations left out. Mitsu will need several months to satisfy all these reservations, so it's no surprise that  the US landing of the japanese SUV was postponed several months, they just don't produce enough cars to satisfy all this demand.

BMW i3 "Angry Puppy" look

BMW - When the bavarian automaker announced the "i" sub-brand, with the advanced carbon fibre platform and two dedicated plug-ins, i feared they would be sold with speculative prices to a selected few, but to my surprise, the prices aren't that high (For a premium plug-in, at least), with the i3 starting at some 40.000$ and the i8 at 135.000$. Too bad that the i3 side profile was ruined...But still, BMW conservative sales goals should be surpassed and next year some 15.000 "i's" might be zooming down the streets, so their profitability should be a slam dunk.

Ford - After the first baby steps (Focus Electric), then came the Energi brothers to put the american learning to walk and now, with the first steps in Europe, it's preparing itself to run along Renault, Toyota or Mitsubishi. Battery costs must be down and it won't be long for an extensive price cut (2014 models?). As for the second generation of batteries, a tip: Make them smaller, so it won't ruin trunk space...

Renault - Two Words for their bad sales moment: Batteries and Rentals. The first bad option was delivering cars without the battery ownership option, cutting off sales, aggravated by the high rental/low mileage ratio. The second bad option has to do with the fact that the french manufacturer concentrated its focus just in Europe, almost completely ignoring the rest of the world, where 3 (USA, Japan and China) out the 4 largest EV markets are...And Renault's presence in ev-friendly scandinavian countries can only be classified as Marginal...

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