Netherlands October 2016

VW Passat GTE: Made For Fleet Managers

Company Car Month

As the year approaches the end, fleet buyers are starting to do their Company Car shopping more actively, and the numbers are showing it, with 1.487 registrations, it was the second best result of the year, with the EV Share recovering to 3%, but far from the 9.6% of last year.

Looking at the Top 5 ranking, the Company Car trend is visible, with the Monthly Best Seller award going to the fleet-favorite VW Passat GTE, with 250 deliveries its best result this year, followed by another fleet-friendly car, the BMW 330e, that 182 registrations, has beaten its personal best for the second time in a row.

Two trendy SUV's follow suit, with the Audi Q7 e-Tron beating the Volvo XC90 T8 by ten units, while the VW Golf GTE rounds up the Top 5, with 114 units, also its best result of the year, meaning fleet buyers haven't forgot one of the 2015 favorites.

With these results, breaking down the general ranking by fuel source, these models have made an impact in their respective segments, with the Passat GTE representing 44% of all Passat sales, ending in Second in the D-Segment/Midsize class, only behind the ICE Passat, while the 330e represented 49% of all 3-Series sales, ending #4 in its class.

The Audi Q7 e-Tron (84% of all Q7 sales) and the Volvo XC90 T8 (75%) also were leaders in the Luxury SUV class, so if you want to sell this kind of vehicles in the Netherlands, it'd better to have a plug...  

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Volkswagen Passat GTE	250
2	BMW 330e	182
3	Audi Q7 e-Tron	133
4	Volvo XC90 T8	123
4	Volkswagen Golf GTE	114

In the YTD ranking, there weren't major changes in the Top Spots, with the Audi Q7 e-Tron climbing to #7, while the Tesla Model X was down two places to #12, the Audi A3 e-Tron was up to #15 and the BMW 740e jumped to #20.

Three new models show up in the ranking, with the Mercedes E350e starting in uncharted territory (PHEV E-Segment), 50 units/month would probably be a good result, while two new Koreans are present, the Optima PHEV landed in one of the most popular segments so a lot is expected from it, while the Hyundai Ionic Electric is off to a good start, with 21 registrations in its first full sales month, let's see if the small-range-but-otherwise-talented Hyundai can run with the best in its class.

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, BMW's strong line up has helped it to maintain the leadership (22%), while the Volvo (17%) is back to Second Place, dropping Tesla (16%) to Third, the American car maker has to watch its back, has the #4 Volkswagen (15%) is closing in.

Pl	Netherlands	Oct.	YTD	%	'15Pl
1 2	Tesla Model S Volvo XC90 T8	57 123	1.328 1.303	14 14	8 7
3	BMW 330e	182	1.121	12	25
4	Volkswagen Passat GTE	250	917	10	6
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12	Mercedes C350e Nissan Leaf Audi Q7 e-Tron BMW 225xe Active Tourer BMW i3 * Volvo V60 Plug-In Volkswagen Golf GTE Tesla Model X	108 89 133 79 30 66 114 18	743 565 506 466 330 284 280 249	8 6 5 5 3 3 3 3	5 13 N/A 17 12 3 2 N/A
13	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	55	233	2	1
14 15	Renault Zoe Audi A3 e-Tron	7 53	157 132	2 1	14 4
16	Volkswagen e-Golf	5	129	1	28
17	Mercedes B250e	3	107	1	19
18 19 20 21	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Toyota Prius Plug-In BMW 740e Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	8 5 20 3	89 71 70 64	1 1 1 1	10 22 N/A 15
22	Volkswagen e-Up!		63	1	28
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 35	BMW X5 40e Kia Soul EV BMW i8 Mercedes GLE500e Kia Optima PHEV Hyundai Ioniq Electric Renault Kangoo ZE Mercedes E350e Porsche Panamera Plug-In Peugeot iOn Renault Twizy Mercedes GLC350e Mercedes S500e Others	5 7 3 4 11 21 19 1 4 4	55 55 41 40 37 23 19 19 17 16 13 13 7 16	1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	11 24 20 27 N/A N/A 25 N/A 21 N/A 28 N/A 18
	TOTAL	1.487	9.574	100

                   

* - 23 Bev + 7 Rex

Source: RAI Vereniging

Regular Hybrids + Plug-ins Ranking

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Toyota Yaris Hybrid	279
2	Volkswagen Passat GTE	250
3	Toyota Auris Hybrid	249
4	BMW 330e	182
5	Kia Niro	167

If we add regular hybrids to plug-ins, the Toyota Yaris Hybird is back at the leadership, but this time the other Toyota best seller, the Auris Hybrid, was surpassed by the VW Passat GTE, which wasn't that far (Only 29 units behind) from the leadership. 

Will we see a plug-in lead the ranking until year end?

  

Plug-ins have another representative, with the BMW 330e reaching Fourth, while last month leader, the Kia Niro, was down to Fifth.

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Small And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - October 2016 YTD

The overall U.S. auto industry's sharp 6% year-over-year decline in October 2016 hid within its shadow a 10% drop in passenger car sales. And inside that passenger car market were many declines far worse than that, particularly in the luxury sector.

Audi's eight cars collectively fell 7%. BMW's car volume was down 38%. Car sales at Cadillac slid 13%. Lexus's cars were down by a fifth. Mercedes-Benz car sales fell 10%. Porsche's cars tumbled 31%. Car sales at Volvo fell 20%. 

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - October 2016 YTD
U.S. Car Sales Rankings By Model - October 2016 YTD

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But it was at Acura, where 7783 passenger cars were sold in October 2015, that the measured decline was sharpest. 

Click Chart To Expand

Acura car sales fell 50%, chopping volume in half to 3873 units. From the entry-level ILX's 46% drop to the most popular TLX's 53% decrease to the flagship RLX's 35% slide, Acura car sales were down. Down. And down.

Of course, the NSX supercar contributed additional sales. It wasn't on sale at this time last year. But the 67 extra units brought in by the Ohio-built hybrid sports car paled in comparison to the 3063-unit drop reported by the TLX alone.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. These tables are sortable, so you can rank luxury brand cars any which way you like. Mobile users can now thumb across tables for full-width access. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • November 2016 • September 2016 • October 2015

Small/Entry  Luxury Car	October 2016	October 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Acura ILX *	999	1860	-46.3%	12,746	15,218	-16.2%
Acura TLX	2714	5777	-53.0%	31,254	40,585	-23.0%
Acura TSX	---	3	-100%	4	35	-88.6%
Alfa Romeo Giulia	---	---	---	7	---	---
Audi A3	1708	2732	-37.5%	26,571	29,704	-10.5%
Audi A4  ^	4176	3156	32.3%	29,253	25,686	13.9%
Audi A5 *	609	845	-27.9%	7281	10,657	-31.7%
BMW 2-Series *	1009	1258	-19.8%	13,479	9730	38.5%
BMW 3-Series	5215	11,012	-52.6%	58,307	80,845	-27.9%
BMW 4-Series	2853	3295	-13.4%	28,889	37,044	-22.0%
BMW i3	442	986	-55.2%	6205	8879	-30.1%
Cadillac ATS	1593	2528	-37.0%	17,723	21,367	-17.1%
Infiniti Q40	---	33	-100%	59	8536	-99.3%
Infiniti Q50	3689	3811	-3.2%	34,852	35,414	-1.6%
Infiniti Q60 *	725	273	166%	2138	3453	-38.1%
Jaguar XE	941	---	---	4543	---	---
Lexus CT200h	564	1077	-47.6%	7385	12,209	-39.5%
Lexus IS	2523	2950	-14.5%	29,286	38,339	-23.6%
Lexus RC	1081	1333	-18.9%	9242	11,791	-21.6%
Mercedes-Benz B-Class *	58	81	-28.4%	526	1768	-70.2%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	6227	7283	-14.5%	62,561	71,818	-12.9%
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class	2295	1867	22.9%	21,846	25,120	-13.0%
Volvo S60/S60 CC	1237	1448	-14.6%	11,325	14,075	-19.5%
Volvo V60/V6 CC	339	854	-60.3%	5052	6083	-16.9%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	40,997	54,462	-24.7%	420,534	508,356	-17.3%

Midsize Luxury Car	October 2016	October 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Acura RLX	93	142	-34.5%	1146	1916	-40.2%
Acura TL	---	1	-100%	---	87	-100%
Audi A6	1429	1740	-17.9%	15,138	18,812	-19.5%
Audi A7	583	736	-20.8%	5171	6244	-17.2%
BMW 5-Series	1462	2693	-45.7%	29,167	36,531	-20.2%
Cadillac CT6	1316	---	---	6707	---	---
Cadillac CTS	1024	1567	-34.7%	13,172	15,820	-16.7%
Cadillac XTS	1464	2043	-28.3%	16,389	18,066	-9.3%
Genesis G80	1109	---	---	3807	---	---
Hyundai Equus	30	203	-85.2%	1327	1933	-31.4%
Infiniti Q70	451	682	-33.9%	4946	6986	-29.2%
Jaguar XF	310	273	13.6%	5818	4920	18.3%
Kia K900	81	229	-64.6%	702	2134	-67.1%
Lexus ES	4190	5426	-22.8%	47,963	52,388	-8.4%
Lexus GS	1388	1287	7.8%	12,352	17,520	-29.5%
Lincoln Continental	1222	---	---	1997	---	---
Lincoln MKS	325	458	-29.0%	4647	5886	-21.1%
Lincoln MKZ	2481	2406	3.1%	25,343	25,369	-0.1%
Maserati Ghibli	637	867	-26.5%	5621	6596	-14.8%
Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class	203	501	-59.5%	3804	5117	-25.7%
Mercedes-Benz E-Class	3624	4661	-22.2%	37,599	39,986	-6.0%
Volvo S80	20	179	-88.8%	579	1262	-54.1%
Volvo S90	351	---	---	959	---	---
Volvo XC70 *	399	464	-14.0%	4803	4424	8.6%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	21,711	26,558	-18.3%	249,157	271,997	-8.4%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* vehicle also displayed in another GCBC segment breakdown
^ A4 includes Allroad, without which A4 sales were up 33.4% to 3864 in October; up 17.6% to 27,535 YTD.
GCBC isn't here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better. This explains why you'll see the Acura ILX here but also with mainstream cars like the Buick Verano, too, and the Audi A5 is also displayed with coupes and convertibles... because readers have wanted it both ways. Hyundai USA, not GoodCarBadCar, chooses to combine sales figures for the Genesis sedan and Genesis Coupe, forcing us to include the Genesis with volume-brand cars on pricing grounds before we even get to the "brand status" issue. The K900, Equus, and XTS are here not because of their size but because of their price points, their lack of direct comparability with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.

RECOMMENDED READING
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - November 2016
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - September 2016
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - October 2015
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - October 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - October 2016
Large Luxury Car Sales In America - October 2016

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