Ireland January 2017

"Are you failing on me, Ireland?"

Hyundai Ioniq crashes Leaf turf

The Irish EV market started the year up a spectacular 131%, with 215 units, a new all-time record, with the EV Share reaching a record 0.55%.

The Nissan Leaf was once again the best selling EV, with 95 units, but this time it had serious competition, with the recent Hyundai Ioniq Electric scoring a surprising 69 units, the highest result ever for any model excluding the Leaf.

The Korean model performance is all the more impressive because, not since the Renault Fluence ZE, some 600 electric years ago (2012), there hasn't been any model seriously challenging the Nissan Leaf domination in Ireland. As in other places, the Ioniq is proving to be something of a gem for Hyundai, let's hope the carmaker doesn't screw us up and produces in the large quantities that buyers are demanding.

The last place of the podium belonged to another trendy model, the BMW 330e, which registered 18 units, while the Fourth Placed Volvo XC90 PHEV was the other model to reach two digit sales.

In the manufacturers ranking, Nissan started ahead, with 44% share, followed by Hyundai (32%) and BMW (10%).

Ireland	2017	%
Nissan Leaf	95	44
Hyundai Ioniq Electric BMW 330e Volvo XC90 T8 Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	69 18 14 5	32 8 7 2
VW Golf GTE	3	1
Renault Zoe BMW i3 BMW X5 40e	2 2 2	1 1 1
Porsche Panamera PHEV	1	0
Mercedes S500e VW Passat GTE BMW 740e Volkswagen e-Golf	1 1 1 1	0 0 0 0
TOTAL	215	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

Ireland December 2016

Another easy win for the Leaf

Diversification Edition

The Irish EV market sales were up 17% in 2016 to 687 units, with the EV Share reaching 0.47%.

The Nissan Leaf was crowned the best selling plug-in for the sixth time in a row , but this time sales were lower than in 2015 (405 units), reaching just 352 units sold, but still way ahead of the competition, with 51% share of the market.

The rest of the podium had two new rookies, with the Volvo XC90 T8 (59 units) and the BMW 330e (86) in particular stirring the otherwise stable Irish market, with the German midsizer winning two monthly best seller trophies in a row (September and October), so expect the Leaf to have a harder time to win the Best Seller trophy in 2017.

BMW was in fact the most active player this year, with a five model line-up, two of them new, and by placing them all in the Top 11, the runner-up status won in 2015 at the manufacturers ranking was repeated in 2016, but this time with 24% share, a stark departure of the 10% share earned in the previous year and if the German carmaker continues to grow like this in 2017, they might be the first to beat Nissan since the 2012 win of Renault.

In Third we have Volvo, with 9% share.

PHEV share grew significantly this year (+23%), now reaching 37%, a new record.

Ireland	2016	%
Nissan Leaf	352	51
BMW 330e Volvo XC90 T8 BMW i3 Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	86 59 44 27	13 9 6 4
VW Golf GTE	23	3
BMW X5 40e Renault Zoe Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia BMW i8 BMW 225xe Act.Tourer	15 13 9 9 8	2 2 1 1 1
Porsche Cayenne PHEV	8	1
Tesla Model S Audi A3 e-Tron Mercedes S500e Hyundai Ioniq Electric VW Passat GTE Renault Twizy Renault Kangoo ZE Por. Panamera PHEV Volvo V60 Plug-In	7 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 1	1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
TOTAL	687	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

Ireland September 2016

Nissan Leaf, meet your nemesis

The End of an Era? - Edition

The seasonal Irish EV market is growing steadily, with YTD sales up 18%, to 646 units, already above the last year record of 588 units.

The local Golden Standard, the Nissan Leaf, had an additional 10 units registered last month, but for the first time this year, it wasn't the Monthly Best Seller, with the BMW 330e registering 21 units, the German PHEV has been collecting good results ever since it arrived in April, it is now Second in the YTD ranking and, production constraints allowing, it can be the first real competitor to the Leaf in three years, for now it has 75 units sold (In only six months), a new yearly record for any model not named Leaf.... 

Will this be a model to face up to the four times (2011/12/14/15) winner Nissan Leaf, in 2017?

Elsewhere, the another BMW climbed in the ranking, with the X5 PHEV rising one position to #7, making it five plug-in hybrids in the Top 7 positions.

Once a BEV stronghold, in 2013 it was still a 100% BEV market, PHEV's have been gaining ground and in 2016 they account for 37% of sales, and while BEV's are down 16% YoY, PHEV's are up a stratospheric 260%, we are witnessing also the end of an era here... 

Looking at the manufacturers ranking, Nissan is firm in the leadership, with 53% share, but BMW (23%) is growing, thanks to its strong (And vast) lineup, while Volvo is Third, with 9% share.

Pl	Ireland	Sep.	YTD	%	'15Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	10	338	52	1
2 3	BMW 330e Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV	21 1	75 58	12 9	N/A N/A
4 5	BMW i3 Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	3	43 27	9 4	3 2
6 7 8	Volkswagen Golf GTE BMW X5 40e PHEV Renault Zoe	3 3	21 15 13	3 2 2	11 6 4
9	BMW i8		9	1	7
10	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In	1	8	1	10
11 12 12 14 14 16 17 17 19 19	BMW 225xe Active Tourer Tesla Model S Audi A3 e-Tron Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Mercedes S500e Volkswagen Passat GTE Renault Twizy Porsche Panamera Plug-In Volvo V60 Plug-In Renault Kangoo ZE		7 6 6 5 5 4 2 2 1 1	1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0	N/A 15 8 5 14 N/A 11 N/A 16 13
	TOTAL	42	646	100

Renault Clio - the latest model behind a spellbinding drive

HARRY POTTER has led me to some of the best roads in the British Isles.

Well, the makers of the films – and my other half’s love of tracking down their locations of choice – did. Head to Hogsmeade railway station (which I’m reliably informed appeared in the first film) and you have to go there via some of the North Yorkshire Moors’ more stunning roads. Equally magical for wizard watchers is Malham Cove, which apparently popped up in the first instalment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – and meant I had an excuse to drive across the Yorkshire Dales in an MX-5.

It’s weird. A movie franchise best known for flying Ford Anglias appears to have been filmed entirely in places car fans love. Which is how I ended up driving along Ireland’s further-flung bits of coastline in a rented Renault Clio last week.

I already knew the destination would be pretty spectacular – if the Cliffs of Moher are dramatic enough to appear in a cinema near you, chances are they’ll be even more imposing in real life – but two things left a big impression on the way there.

The first is discovering there’s a road that threads its way along the Atlantic coastline for mile after mile before twisting and turning through what feels like an eternity of hairpins on its way up to the clifftop – and that it was virtually deserted. It’s a bit of Ireland that’s wonderfully removed from our rush hour madness, but stick your car on the Liverpool ferry to Dublin tonight and you could be driving it tomorrow afternoon.

Yet the real surprise was the car – that rented Clio. It might have an interior lined with cheap feeling, scratchy plastics but there was nothing low-rent about the way it clung on in tight corners. It just got on with the job with no fuss – track day fans might look elsewhere but in supermini terms I’ve driven far worse.

It looks good too – gone are the blobby proportions of the old Clio and in are some neat bits of detailing – like those Alfa 156-esque hidden rear door handles. In fact, the only thing I could really fault it on was the lack of oomph from the 1.2-litre petrol engine – 75bhp was more than enough for Galway’s tight streets, but it definitely felt like it was made for a smaller stage than Ireland’s trickiest roads.

I suspect there Ford’s Fiesta would have been more fun, but give me the right deal and I’d be more than happy to be chucked the keys to the French offering. Renault was clearly on a roll when it reinvented the Clio.

Ireland May 2015

 

Nothing New on the Western Front Edition

The Irish EV market seems to have stabilized around the 0,5% Share (0,47%, to be more precise), last month 33 units were sold, with YTD sales at 380 units in only five months, 2015 will be miles ahead from the 256 registrations made in 2014.

The Nissan Leaf continues to EVangelize this market, with a gigantic 72% Share, with 273 units YTD, the japanese car is already outselling the whole '14 EV market!

As for the others, the numbers continue small and with no real significance, with only the A3 e-Tron showing signs of wanting to shake things up.

Pl	Ireland	May	YTD	%	'14Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	21	273	72	1
2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	1	26	7	2
3	Renault Zoe	2	19	5	4
4	BMW i3	2	17	4	3
5 6	Volkswagen e-Golf Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	2	13 7	3 2	7 N/A
7 8	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In BMW i8	2 1	6 5	2 1	N/A 7
9 10 10 12 12	Audi A3 e-Tron Mercedes S500 Plug-In Renault Twizy Tesla Model S Renault Kangoo ZE	1 1	4 3 3 2 2	1 1 1 1 1	7 N/A 5 5 10
	TOTAL	33	380	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

Ireland March 2015

The most common example of the EV Species in Ireland

Nissan Edition

EV's are currently a hot item in Ireland, last month 95 units were sold, with YTD sales at 297 units, already above the 256 registrations made in the 12 months of 2014!

The EV Share now sits at 0,46%, almost twice as last year (0,27%) and far, far above the 0,08% recorded in 2013...

Nissan is sovereign in this market, with the Leaf high above, with 221 units and 75% of the market, with the e-NV200 also the Best-seller in the LCV front.

As for the others, the Mitsu Outlander PHEV continues Second, but the BMW i3 had a bad month, scoring only one registration, thus letting the Third Spot get away to the Renault Zoe (4 units).

Pl	Ireland	Mar.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	78	221	74	1
2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	7	22	7	2
3	Renault Zoe	4	15	5	4
4	BMW i3	1	13	4	3
5	Volkswagen e-Golf	3	10	3	7
6 7	Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia BMW i8	1	4 3	1 1	N/A 7
7 9 9 11 11	Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Mercedes S500 Plug-In Tesla Model S Audi A3 e-Tron Renault Kangoo ZE	1	3 2 2 0 0	1 1 1 0 0	N/A N/A 5 6 9
	TOTAL	95	297	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

Ireland February 2015

Point Of No Return? Edition

EV's continued the hot sales trend started last month, 61 units were sold in February, with an great 0,43% EV share for plug-ins, with the YTD sales at 202 units, three times higher than last year and only 54 units behind the whole(!) year 0f 2014, could this mean that the Point of no Return on sales for electric cars in Ireland has been reached? At least, it means that more and more companies are interested in selling their plug-ins here, a year ago, only Nissan, Renault and BMW were present, now there are nine manufacturers selling plug-ins!

Nissan, for a long time the electric car evangelist in the Emerald Island, is now harvesting the fruits of that investment, with the Leaf high above, with 143 units and 71% of the market. The Mitsu Outlander PHEV had a bad month, with only one registration, but it's still #2 YTD, followed by the BMW i3 in Third (8 units, personal best) and the Renault Zoe, in Fourth. As for the e-Golf, finally a decent sales month, with 6 units registered.

Pl	Ireland	Feb.	YTD	%	'14Pl
1	Nissan Leaf	38	143	71	1
2	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	1	15	7	2
3	BMW i3	8	12	6	3
4	Renault Zoe	3	11	5	4
5	Volkswagen e-Golf	6	7	3	7
6 6	BMW i8 Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia	1 1	3 3	1 1	7 N/A
8 8 8 11 11	Tesla Model S Mercedes S500 Plug-In Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Audi A3 e-Tron Renault Kangoo ZE	2 1 0 0 0	2 2 2 0 0	1 1 1 0 0	5 N/A N/A 6 9
	TOTAL	61	202	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

Ireland January 2015

Lord of the Rings Edition

The Irish Auto market is highly seasonal, with January sales representing a peak, followed by several months of low numbers, the EV Market niche follows the trend, with a record-shattering 137 units sold, the first time that this market reaches the three digits in one month, with the EV Share rising to a record 0.45%, which reinforces the growth path started last year (0.27% Share vs 0.08% in '13), after a Share slump in 2013 (0.08% in '13 vs 0,23% in '12), which interrupted a growth trend that had started in 2011 (0.07% in 2011 vs 0.02% in 2010).

The models ranking started 2015 where 2014 left off, with 3 out of 4 EV's sold being Nissan Leafs, Best Seller in Ireland since 2011 (The japanese hatch represents an impressive Two Thirds of all plug-ins sold here), while the runner-up position continues to belong to the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (14 units) and the #3 was for Renault Zoe (8 units).

Ireland	Jan '15	%
Nissan Leaf	105	76
Mitsu. Outlander PHEV	14	10
Renault Zoe	8	6
BMW i3	4	3
P. Cayenne Plug-In	2	1
BMW i8 VW e-Golf Audi A3 e-Tron Mercedes S500 Plug-In	2 1 1 1	1 1 1 1
TOTAL	138	100

Source: beepbeep.ie

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...

Ireland Full Year 2012

At 182 units, this is still a small market, but sales here more than tripled regarding 2011 and the Irish market hasn't been on the Plug-In Hybrids radar yet, so expect more growth coming from there in '13.

The Nissan Leaf retained last year's crown, a rare feat on the EV market, but this time it had serious competition against it, suffice to say that in the end of November the Fluence was still #1 with 3 sales in advance over the Leaf.

The other model to achieve significant sales was the LCV Kangoo ZE with 46 units, making this a Renault-Nissan dominated market.

Ireland	YTD	%
Nissan Leaf	69	38
Renault Fluence ZE	66	36
Renault Kangoo ZE	44	24
Peugeot iOn	1	1
Mitsubishi I-Miev	1	1
Citröen C-Zero	1	1
TOTAL	182	100

Source: Autoblog.es; beepbeep.ie