Hong Kong May 2015

HK has become a big fan of them

Tesla Superstar

The Hong Kong EV Market continues to amaze, with sales going through the roof and record sales happening almost every month, translated in an EV Share of 2.8%, the third highest in the world, only behind the Netherlands (5.65%) and Norway (21,8%).

Tesla has struck gold here, with more than 400 units sold this year, while the BMW i3 is also enjoying the taste of success, selling 124 units to date and will probably double the number of sales it had last year. 

In a van-friendly market, the e-NV200 is also showing itself, preserving its Third spot from the rest of the competition.  

Pl	Hong Kong	May	YTD	%	'14Pl
1 2	Tesla Model S e) BMW i3	50 39	420 124	66 20	1 2
3	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	14	50	8	N/A
4	BMW i8	2	30	5	7
5 6	Nissan Leaf Mitsubishi I-Miev	2	10 1	2 0	3 5
TOTAL		107	635	100

Source: HKMTA

e) Estimate

Hong Kong February 2015

E-NV200 Superstar - Hong Kong Edition

This small EV market has been on fire lately (The '15 EV Share is at 1.18%, twice as much as last year), with the BMW i3 proving to be an instant hit with consumers, after shattering the YTD record for a single model last year (135 units), this year it continues high above the competition, winning ground to the competition in every passing month.

Well, that was the case until last month, when out of nowhere (Previously it had only two registrations), the Nissan e-NV200 jumped to the Monthly Best Seller position in February, with 19 units, it's first Monthly Trophy anywhere in the World.  

If Nissan's van continues to record such numbers in the near future, both BMW and Tesla (First and Second in the YTD ranking) will have to work hard to keep the e-NV200 at bay and prevent it from being #1. 

The BMW i8 has also impressed last month, selling 10 units and helping the brand to continue sovereign in this market.

Pl	Hong Kong	Feb.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1 2	BMW i3 Tesla Model S e)	13 10	46 25	42 23	1 2
3	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	19	21	19	N/A
4	BMW i8	10	12	11	7
5 6	Nissan Leaf Mitsubishi I-Miev	4 0	5 1	5 1	3 5
TOTAL		56	110

Source: HKMTA

e) Estimate

Hong Kong May 2013

A black-painted frog Nissan Leaf

First Post Edition

We welcome a new ranking, Hong Kong, comparing with the rest of China, this autonomous territory has a very different automotive landscape, with foreign brands taking the bulk of sales.

As such, the small local EV market also reflects that, with the Renault-Nissan Alliance dominating sales, with the exception of May, where a 45 taxi fleet deal including BYD put its e6 model on the top spot.

As a result, the Renault Fluence ZE dropped to second place with 35 units, the Leaf is now third with 18 sales and finally in fourth place, there's the I-Miev with just one unit sold.

Finally, the EV share now stands at a respectable 0,52%, more than doubling last year share of 0,21%, when only the Leaf was sold here.

Pl	Hong Kong	May	YTD	%	'12Pl
1	BYD e6	45	45	45	N/A
2	Renault Fluence ZE	10	35	35	N/A
3	Nissan Leaf		18	18	1
4	Mitsubishi I-Miev		1	1	N/A
TOTAL		55	99

Source: HKMTA, Manufacturers

Markets Roundup Full Year 2012

Fisker Karma in Monaco

With most of 2012 data in, it's time for a roundup on some EV markets:

- The three countries with highest EV share are Norway (No surprises here) with 3,09%, followed by Estonia (Thanks to Mitsubishi) at 2,35% and finally in third there's the Netherlands with 0,98%;

- The Renault Twizy was #1 in eight countries, hitting a sweet spot in Central and Southern Europe;

- Renault sold some 600 units of the Fluence ZE in Israel, included in the Better Place battery swapping project and at 0,37% share it was not a bad start, but the question is if in 2013 they will resist the black hole that is becoming the Better Place deal;

- Nissan has sold 89 units of the Nissan Leaf in Hong Kong, meaning that Nissan sold more Leaf's there than in the whole of China;

- Where else in the world other than Monaco would the Fisker Karma be a best seller? That's right, the Cadillac Escalade of the  Plug-In market was the second best selling electric vehicle in Monaco, just behind the Renault Twizy. With this in mind, i'm assuming that Tesla will be the best seller this year;

- As proof that the EV market is a fast changing market, Finland had three different leaders in the last three years, starting with the Think City in 2010, followed in '11 by the Citröen C-Zero and the Nissan Leaf last year;

- The I-Miev family has a thing for finding new markets for electric cars and losing them for others in the following years, for example the Mitsubishi I-Miev started the EV market in 2009 in it's home market, being the best selling electric model that year and in 2010, before losing the crown to the Leaf in 2011.  The same thing happened in Germany (#1 in 2010 and 2011, #3 in 2012), Spain (#1 in 2011, #9 in 2012), Switzerland (#1 in 2010 and 2011, #4 in 2012), Monaco (#1 in 2011, #6 in 2012) and Ireland (#1 in 2010, #4 in 2011 and 2012). In 2012 the I-Miev family started to sell cars in new markets like  the Czech Republic (78 units), Iceland (9), Poland (13) and Colombia (28). It remains to be seen in 2013 how many of these will still crown a I-Miev member as best seller...

Rolls-Royce Phantom LWB Peninsula Edition

V12 / 6.749 cc / 460 PS / 531 lb/ft (720 Nm) @ 3.500 / 0 - 62 mph (100 km/h): 6,1 s / Vmax: 149 mph (240 km/h)

(click images for a larger view)