In yet another European country, I’ve run into complications getting full registration numbers for plug-in hybrid electric cars. Unfortunately, many countries just lump gasoline/diesel and plug-in hybrid electric versions of the same model together when reporting model registrations. Odd, considering how different the gasoline/diesel and plug-in hybrid versions are.
KBA.de released official German registration numbers for all car models earlier this month. However, it didn’t break out the VW e-Up! from the VW Up, nor did it break out the Smart Electric Drive from the Smart ForTwo. Unfortunately, the VW e-Up! and Smart Electric Drive are two of the most popular plug-in cars in Germany.
Luckily, Jose Pontes of EV-Sales Blogspot has pulled some numbers from somewhere. I’m not sure how accurate they are, but I’m going with those for now.
Using the numbers from these two sources, for the year to date, the BMW i3 continues to be the #1 plug-in car in Germany (32% market share), and the VW e-Up! is holding its spot at #2 (21%). But #3 is now the Tesla Model S (12%) and #4 the Nissan LEAF (11%), with the Renault Zoe (10%) and Smart Electric Drive (10%) falling considerably.
For March, it’s a similar story. The BMW i3 was #1 again (27% market share), the Model S rose to #2 (17%), the Nissan LEAF rose to #3 (16%), the VW e-Up! fell to #4 (14%), the Smart Electric Drive fell to #5 (13%), and the Renault Zoe fell to #6 (11%). After that, everyone is playing for peanuts.
I was surprised to see the VW e-Up! fall so much, but it was actually more a case of other models rising. The e-Up! had more sales in March than February (119 vs 101). The Smart Electric Drive also had more (108 vs 84), as did the Renault Zoe (95 vs 62). But the other top models simply rose much more (Tesla Model S: 143 vs 66; Nissan LEAF: 131 vs 24; BMW i3: 230 vs 179).
This is one of the most interesting EV markets in the world now. I’m curious to see how next month turns out.
For February sales data, see: BMW i3 Dominates Germany Electric Cars Sales In February, Inches Below VW e-Up! YTD.
