Sunday, November 29, 2015

World Top 10 October 2015

Old and New


Models - Kandi Panda EV #1!

Thanks mostly to another outstanding performance of the chinese market, more than 51.000 plug-ins were sold last month, which not only represents a 8% increase over the last record (48k, two months ago), but also a significant 80%(!) increase regarding the same month last year, pulling the YTD sales to 385k units, meaning that we are headed for some 500.000 units at the end of the year. Yep, half a million EV's in one year, this year.

And to think sales in 2012 were at around 150.000...

Thanks to a booming Chinese market, for the first time since 2010, we see a chinese model claiming the Monthly Best Selling Model, but the real surprise is that it wasn't a BYD model, but a Kandi...The Panda EV, based on the Geely model with the same name, sold 4.581 units, the best performance ever for a chinese model, enabling it to outrun the usual suspects and win the October Best Seller Trophy, while at the same time allowed it to jump to #11 in the YTD chart, only 155 units short of joining the Top 10.

But there were more chinese models to impress in October: The recently landed BYD Tang was #4 (New pb for the SUV), with 3.212 units, the BAIC E-Series was #6, with 2.344 units (Year best), Zotye Z100 / Cloud EV ended in #7, with a record 2.340 units, and finally the once fearsome BYD Qin was #9, with just 2.209 units. All in all, five out of the Top 10 best sellers in October came from China. And foreign manufacturers are still weighing if they should or not start making plug-ins in there...

In other news...Taking the risk of reproducing myself frequently, the Nissan Leaf desperately needs to start selling the 30kWh, the 2.949 registrations made last month were its worst result in almost three years, losing 9% share regarding last year.  

Speaking of veteran models, the Chevy Volt II finally started to appear on dealerships and helped the Volt family(1) to register its best performance in 14 months, by selling 2.264 units.

The only notable position changes were the VW e-Golf dropping two positions to #9, to the benefit of the aforementioned Volt, up one position to #7, and the BAIC E-Series, rising also one position to #8.

PlWORLDOct. YTD%'14Pl
1Nissan Leaf2.949 38.908101
2Tesla Model S3.34536.30293
3Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV3.73432.50382
4
5
6
BYD Qin
BMW i3
Renault Zoe
2.209
2.150
1.841
28.365
20.190
13.623
7
5
4
7
6
9
7Chevrolet Volt (1)2.26412.87234
8BAIC E-Series EV2.34412.688316
9Volkswagen e-Golf1.33412.626321
10Volkswagen Golf GTE1.48111.691333

TOTAL 51.698
385.843



Manufacturers -  BYD is the Best Selling Brand

This was the fifth sixth consecutive month that BYD won the Best Selling Manufacturer title, again with a new personal record (6.101 units), the chinese carmaker has finally surpassed Nissan, being now the Best Selling EV Manufacturer of the year, a novelty for any chinese carmaker. 

And to think BYD ended 2014 in Seventh...

In the race for #3, another position change, Mitsubishi is now ahead, benefiting from the restyled Outlander and a more complete lineup, but with only 311 units separating it from Tesla, a lot can still happen until the end of the year.

In the low end of the manufacturers ranking, things remain pretty leveled, Kandi surpassed Ford and is now #8, while Zotye reached #10, surpassing Chevrolet, now #11, but only 136 units behind the chinese carmaker.

PlWORLDOct.YTD%'14Pl
1BYD6.10143.073117
2Nissan3.11542.012111
3Mitsubishi4.14436.62392
4Tesla3.34936.31293
5
6
7
Volkswagen
BMW
Renault 
3.774
2.937
2.568
27.755
25.470
20.136
7
7
5
11
9
8
8Kandi5.08117.201410
9Ford1.77617.11745
10Zotye2.609 15.384413






(1) - Includes Chevrolet Volt I and II, Holden Volt, Opel and Vauxhall Ampera;

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Markets Roundup October 2015

Renault Twizy in Colombia

Renault Twizy: To Boldly Go Where No Other EV Has Gone Before

After the initial craze, when sales hit 9.000 units in 2012, the Renault Twizy sales have now stabilized around 2.500 units per year, probably a number that the french manufacturer had hoped to sell every month, helas but, there is a silver lining to be seen here, while the tiny two seater continues to see its sales shrink in its native Europe (Down 15% regarding 2014), in the rest of the world sales are actually booming, if last year there some 115 Twizzies registered outside Europe, from January until now we are with 268...Admittedly, these are small numbers, but the interesting bit is where these cars are registered:

-  203 units were registered in Colombia, 27 in Malaysia and 19 in Tahiti, all new territories for the Renault ZE sub-brand;

- 19 units in Morocco, slightly less than the 22 units registered in October'14, but still a good result.

The shining result of the Twizy in Colombia allows it to have 0,1% of the local market, therefore placing the EV share in Colombia also at 0,1%, thus placing that market at the forefront of EV's in Latin America, along with Costa Rica.

All referred markets are considered uncharted territory for EV's, so the tiny french vehicle could be considered as a pathfinder for the rest of the plug-in crowd, searching for ev-friendly markets "Where no other EV has gone before".


 








Trends in the G8, in Twitter-like sentences

- Volt II arrives in the US, @1;

- Outlander PHEV @1 in Japan, #Finally;

- Outlander PHEV, King Of England;

- Zoe rules in France, e-Golf in Norway;

- Soul EV @1 in Germany, #Really?;

- Netherlands sales shoot up, #2013;

- China goes interstellar, #Kandi @1.


Trends in other Markets, in Twitter-like sentences

- Volt II arrives in Canada, next stop @1;

- Smart Fortwo ED, Winner2Go in Spain;

- Tesla #1, @Switzerland, @Denmark, @Austria, @Hong Kong, @Finland;

- Belgium @Foto-Finish, #Model S, #Cayenne Plug-In 

Friday, November 27, 2015

Japan October 2015



Outlander PHEV Number One

Another month in the red, with sales down 30% YoY to 1.785 units, and the EV Share at a paltry 0.52%, a long way down from the 0,98% of last year.

Besides low gas prices, another reason for this poor performance is the 30kWh version of the Nissan Leaf, only set to arrive in December and leading customers to wait for the new version, until then, Nissan's electric hatch is left with slow sales, like the 359 units recorded last month, down 69%(!) regarding October '14, On the other hand, the Mitsu Outlander PHEV is now firm in #1, and unless the Leaf pulls out a record-breaking performance in December, Mitsu will see its plug-in SUV finally be crowned as the Best Selling EV in its home market, after two previously failed attempts and recover the Best Selling Manufacturer Trophy, after losing in 2014 to the arch-rival Nissan.

Pl
Japan
Oct.
  2015
     %Pl '14
1Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV1.1459.66444
2
2Nissan Leaf3597.96236
1
3Toyota Prius Plug-In521.3606
3
4BMW i3 e)1001.0005
6
5Mitsubishi I-Miev215763
4
6
7
8
9
10
10
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia e)
Tesla Model S e)
Mitsubishi Minicab Miev
Mit. Minicab Miev Truck
BMW i8 e)
Honda Accord Plug-In
50
25
26
4
5
2
500
464
453
142
50
32
2
2
2
1
0
0
N/A
7
5
8
10
9

TOTAL1.78922.205100

e) Estimate




Source:http://evn.blog.eonet.jp; insideevs.com

Europe October 2015

Headed Norway, are we?

Soul EV Star of the Month Edition

More than 16.000 units were sold last month in the European EV market, up an impressive 86% YoY, and with over 135.000 registered this year, YTD sales are headed for over 150k 170k units this year, a significant improvement over the 100k registered in 2014.

Looking at the monthly models ranking, the Mitsu Outlander PHEV is fully profiting from the restyled version, selling 2.509 units, head and shoulders above the Number Two in October, the surprising Renault Zoe, with 1.822 units, its best performance of the year and the best pure electric in the ranking.

In Third we have the VW Golf GTE (1.481 units, best result since July), followed by the Star of the Month Kia Soul EV, that jumped to Fourth thanks to 1.215 units, shattering its previous record of 626 units recorded in September, most of them were registered in Germany, but we all know where they are really headed Norway...

By the way, here is a possible explanation as to why these strange sales transfer occurs between Germany and Norway...Spoiler Alert: It has to do with Carbon Dioxide.

In #5 we have the Good Ol' Nissan Leaf, back to its usual low thousand-something '15 average, waiting for the 30kWh early next year to have a new jump in sales.

A couple of models outside the Top 5 deserve a mention, the VW Passat GTE became the Best-Selling D-Segment car and reached #9 last month, while the Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-in Hybrid became the Best Selling Luxury SUV (287 units) in October, ahead of the chronicle leader, Porsche Cayenne Plug-in (243 units) and the other rising star, the BMW X5 40e PHEV (240 sales).

PlModelSales  
1Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV2.509
2Renault Zoe1.822
3Volkswagen Golf GTE
1.481   
4Kia Soul EV
1.215
5Nissan Leaf1.125

Looking at the YTD ranking, there aren't changes in the Top 10, but some models reached closer to its forerunners: #3 Zoe is only 384 units behind the #2 Leaf, #5 Golf GTE is just 84 units behind the Model S and the #10 Kia Soul EV is 72 units behind the #9 Volvo V60 Plug-in, so a lot can happen in these spots.

But it's below the Top 10 that thing become really interesting: The Porsche Cayenne Plug-In and Mercedes C350e climb one position to #12 and #13, respectively while the Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia twins drop two positions to #14, registering only 99 units, their worst result in over a year. Are they also feeling the 30kWh syndrome?

Another model with slowing sales is the VW e-Up!, with its worst result ever, only 135 units, another position to  #16, considering the free fall it is experiencing in the ranking, last year the little VW was #6, the german brand should give the e-Up! a substantial price cut, overcoming the largest problem that model has: Price.

The problems of some are the benefits of others, and the Mercedes B-Class ED benefited from the e-Up!'s woes to climb another position to #15, signaling another positive month for Mercedes.

Looking at newcomers in the ranking, the Volkswagen Passat GTE climbed nine positions to #21, the BMW X5 40e already joined the ranking at #30, while knocking at the door, there is another posh SUV: The Volvo XC90 T8 is #31, with 289 units...And there are more rookies waiting to join the ranking, like the #33 BMW 225xe Active Tourer is #33, or down a bit further, two more luxury SUV's: The Mercedes GLE500e and the Audi Q7 e-Tron.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen is stable in the lead of Europe's EV Manufacturers Throne (18%), followed by Mitsubishi (16%) in Second and Renault in Third, with 13%, while Nissan is #4, with 12%, down 1% share.

PlEuropeOct.2015%'14Pl
1Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV2.50922.061161
2Nissan Leaf1.12513.899102
3Renault Zoe1.82213.515103
4Tesla Model S99211.77594
5Volkswagen Golf GTE1.48111.691822
6Volkswagen e-Golf7389.47579
7Audi A3 e-Tron9658.841619
8BMW i39488.30965
9
10
11
Volvo V60 Plug-In
Kia Soul EV
Renault Kangoo ZE
595
1.215
349
4.185
4.113
3.011
3
3
2
7
23
8
12Porsche Cayenne Plug-In2432.622228
13Mercedes C350e3712.5992N/A
14Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia992.452212
15
16
17
18
Mercedes B-Class ED
Volkwagen e-Up!
BMW i8
Renault Twizy
212
135
107
173
2.336
2.327
1.781
1.743
2
2
1
1
29
6
15
11
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Smart Fortwo ED
Peugeot iOn
Volkswagen Passat GTE
Bolloré Blue Car
Citröen C-Zero
Mitsubishi I-Miev
Mercedes S500e
Toyota Prius Plug-In
Ford C-Max Energi
Porsche Panamera Plug-In
BMW X5 40e
Goupil
256
 151
824
202
125
65
48
22
66
32
240
47
1.719
1.268
1.067
953
812
664
621
554
551
501
371
359
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
21
N/A
13
20
17
31
14
N/A
18
N/A
24

TOTAL16.614137.797100

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Belgium October 2015


Two contestants, only one winner: Who will it be?


Cayenne Plug-In Reaches (even) Closer to #1

Some 300 EV's were sold in Belgium last month, up 111% YoY, placing the EV Share at 0,75% and with YTD sales at 3.222 units, will we see sales reach 4.000 this year?

The two on the front continue their close run, the Tesla Model S (55 units) losing a bit more ground to the Porsche Cayenne Plug-In (72 sales), with the difference between both now at just 33 16 units.

In the rest of the ranking, the Audi A3 e-Tron had its best selling month since it landed, registering 25 units, while the Nissan Leaf registered only one single unit, the worst performance in four years(!), allowing the Mitsu Outlander PHEV and the aforementioned A3 e-Tron to rise one position, to #6 and #7, respectively, dropping the japanese car to #8. The 30kWh version can't come soon enough...

Great landing by the BMW X5 PHEV, registering right away 17 units, already leaving its direct competitor Mercedes GLE500e far behind, with the Merc only registering one unit in its debut month.

In the manufacturers ranking, everything remains the same, with Porsche leading (24%), followed closely by Tesla (22%) and BMW in Third, with 15%.


PlBelgiumOct.YTD%'14Pl
1Tesla Model S55695221
2Porsche Cayenne Plug-In726792114
3
4
BMW i3 *
VW Golf GTE
30
11
335
216
10
7
2
23
5Volvo V60 Plug-In2019066
6Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV2517055
7Audi A3 e-Tron25164515
8Nissan Leaf115754
9BMW i8513549
10Porsche Panamera Plug-In48833
11Mercedes B-Class ED4622N/A
12Mercedes S500e7552N/A
13
14
15
16
Renault Twizy
VW e-Golf
Renault Zoe
Smart Fortwo ED       
1
1
5
2
50
33
30
27
2
1
1
1
8
10
7
10
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
24
26
26
26
29
30
30
Mercedes C350e
VW e-Up!

Peugeot iOn
BMW X5 40e PHEV
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia
Kia Soul EV
Porsche 918
Ford Focus Electric
Opel Ampera
Mitsubishi I-Miev
Volkswagen XL1
McLaren P1
Toyota Prius Plug-In
Citröen C-Zero
Mercedes GLE500e
4
2
7
17










1
25
22
21

17
15
13
7
3
3
2
2
 2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
N/A
12
17
N/A
18
18
21
N/A
16
18
N/A
23
23
23
N/A

TOTAL2993.222100

Source: febiac.be



* - 9 Bev + 21 Rex

Portugal October 2015

Has the Zoe finally reached its full potential?
  
Renault Zoe Excels Edition

EV Sales are rising in Portugal, something that is particularly visible in Lisbon's Metropolitan Area, with sales doubling regarding the same month last year, and with YTD sales now at 872 units (Will we reach 1.000 by year end?), the EV Share is steady at 0,57%, a significant departure from the 0,25% of last year.

Looking at the models ranking, the Mitsu Outlander PHEV stayed #1 in the YTD chart, but the surprise of the month belonged to another model...

The Renault Zoe sold a record 19 units, just the second time it reached the two digit area, collecting only its second Monthly Best Seller trophy ever (The first was in Dec. '14), an odd fact for a model that has been on sale for over two years, especially considering that Renault has the largest dealership network in Portugal and is the best selling automotive brand.

Does this mean Renault's sales force is finally willing to sell the Zoe?

As the song says: "Que sera, sera / Whatever will be, will be / The future's not ours to see / Que sera sera..."

In the manufacturers ranking, Mitsubishi (24% Share) is first, followed by Nissan (20%), Renault (19%, up 1%) and BMW (14%).

Pl
Portugal
Oct.
2015
%
Pl '14
1Mitsu Outlander PHEV e)1020524
4
2Nissan Leaf1516118
2
3
4
BMW i3 *
Renault Zoe
16
19
116
81
13
9
1
5
5
6
7
7
9
10
11
12
13
Renault Twizy
Peugeot iOn
Toyota Prius Plug-In
Volkswagen Golf GTE
Renault Kangoo ZE
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia
Tesla Model S
Mercedes B-Class ED
Audi A3 e-Tron
4
1







54
49
28
28
21
14
13
12
11
6
6
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
3
20
12
N/A
8
8
N/A
N/A
N/A 
13
13
16
17
17
17
20
20
22
23
24
25
25
Volvo V60 Plug-In
BMW i8
Porsche Cayenne Plug-In
Volkswagen e-Up!
Mercedes S500 Plug-In
Volkswagen e-Golf
Mitsubishi I-Miev
Smart Fortwo ED
Opel Ampera
Porsche Panamera Plug-In
Citroen C-Zero
Citroen Berlingo EV
Kia Soul EV

2






1

1


11
11
10
8
8
8
6
6
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
14
7
13
11
N/A
15
15
6
18
8
20
20
N/A

TOTAL69872100

Source: ACAP

Hong Kong October 2015

Hong Kong and Tesla love affair doesn´t seem to end

Tesla and the Rest

The Hong Kong EV Market continues hot as hot cakes, with an EV Share of 2.53%, the fourth highest in the world, only behind Iceland, Netherlands and Norway, with the current 1.162 units sold this year simply obliterating previous records, as is the EV Share, up five-fold(!) regarding last years 0,46%...

There aren't official numbers, but Tesla has been an undeniable success, leaving the rest of the EV competitors in the dust, with the once promising BMW i3 registering only eight units last month, a far cry from the 30-something average of the first half of the year, but with 206 units to date (A 53% increase YoY), it is a success in its own way

In a van-friendly market, the e-NV200 is Third, while the Nissan Leaf might still remove the BMW i8 from #4 until year end.  

But back to Tesla, with the EV market pretty much all to itself, the american car can now focus on their real competitors, the E-Segment luxury sedans from Mercedes, BMW and Audi...

Right now, the Model S is Second, behind the Mercedes E-Class (98 sales in October, 948 YTD) and ahead of the BMW 5-Series (77/636), the prospects for the future will be that it will be hard to remove the E-Class from the leadership (Rich people do love their Mercs here, last month the S-Class sold 88 units!), but a comfortable second is most likely, which is a great sign for future acceptance of EV's in this market.


PlHong KongOct.YTD%'14Pl
1
2
Tesla Model S e)
BMW i3
80
8
830
206
71
18
1
2
3Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia3595N/A
4BMW i8
3937
5
6
Nissan Leaf
Mitsubishi I-Miev
11

27
1
2
0
3
5
TOTAL1021.162100

Source: BSCB

e) Estimate