Ioniq Electric: Surprise Leader
"...Upside down..."
"Boy you Incentives turn me / Inside out / And round and round"
This could be the tune of last month in the Dutch EV market, with 717 units registered, sales were down 94% regarding the previous month, due to the incentives-derived stampede of December, the last month for PHEVs to have access to company car incentives.
So one would expect yet another sales hangover like in previous years, but actually registrations weren't that catastrophic, as the 717 units represent a 27% increase YoY, with BEVs doubling sales regarding January 2016, with market share reaching 1.4%.
Will we see this market shift away for good from plug-in hybrids? If that were to happen, it would be a case study on how incentives can influence plug-in markets.
Looking at the top Best Sellers, one can see that the best selling plug-in hybrid shows up only in Seventh (Volvo XC90 PHEV, 46 units), we have to go back to the Middle Ages (2011) to see the Best Selling PHEV this down in the ranking.
An eventful surprise shows up in Number One, with the Hyundai Ioniq Electric starting the year in the leadership, with 95 units, the Korean first #1 outside its home market, followed by three long range BEVs (Some more than others...), which once again proves that range matters.
Pl
Model
Sales
1
Hyundai Ioniq Electric
95
2
BMW i3 *
88
3
Renault Zoe
70
4
Tesla Model S
65
4
Nissan Leaf
63
Looking elsewhere, while PHEV models should still have a significant portion of units that were ordered for December but were only registered in January, it is interesting to see some all-electric models coming alive, like the eight Citröen C-Zero registered, its best result in four years, or the 70 units of the Renault Zoe, its best result in three years, no doubt due to the deliveries of the ZE 40 version.
In the manufacturers ranking, things aren't that upside down as in the models ranking, last year runner-up, BMW, adapted quite well to the new environment, besides extensive, BMW's lineup proves that is also able to play in both sides of the field (BEV and PHEV) with equal efficiency, starting the year in the leadership with 17% share, followed by Tesla (16%) and Hyundai (13%).
Pl
Netherlands
Jan.
YTD
%
'16Pl
1
2
Hyundai Ioniq Electric
BMW i3 *
95
88
95
88
13
12
23
14
3
Renault Zoe
70
70
10
17
4
Tesla Model S
65
65
9
5
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Nissan Leaf
Tesla Model X
Volvo XC90 PHEV
Volkswagen Passat GTE
Porsche Cayenne Plug-in
Audi Q7 e-Tron
Mercedes GLC350e
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
63
50
46
43
20
16
15
12
63
50
46
43
20
16
15
12
9
7
6
6
3
2
2
2
13
15
3
1
22
6
31
7
12
Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia
12
12
2
16
12
15
16
Mercedes C350e
BMW 225xe Active Tourer
Mercedes E350e
12
11
10
12
11
10
2
2
1
4
11
10
16
Kia Soul EV
10
10
1
27
18
Mercedes B250e
8
8
1
20
18
18
21
21
Citröen C-Zero
BMW X5 40e
Volkswagen Golf GTE
Volvo V60 Plug-In
8
8
7
7
8
8
7
7
1
1
1
1
38
26
8
9
23
Audi A3 e-Tron
6
6
1
12
23
23
26
27
27
27
30
31
32
BMW 330e
Mercedes S500e
Mercedes GLE500e
Volkswagen e-Up!
Peugeot iOn
BMW 740e
Toyota Prius Plug-In
BMW i8
Kia Optima PHEV
6
6
5
4
4
4
3
2
1
6
6
5
4
4
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
2
35
30
24
34
18
25
29
21
TOTAL
717
717
100
* - 86 Bev + 2 Rex
Source: RAI Vereniging