With several disruptions affecting it, the overall German auto market is still in the red. The market fell 13% last month year-over-year. However, it seems that all this doom and gloom is affecting the plugins differently. Sales of fully electric vehicles (BEVs) rose 13% year-over-year (YoY) in July. There were 28,815 BEV registrations last month, representing 14% of the total market. On the other hand, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) performed worse than the general market (-21%). Consumers may have started moving away from them. The latter had 23,712 registrations, or 11.5% of the total vehicle market.
June’s additional 26% vehicle participation kept the year-to-date result at 25% (14% BEV). A result of 25–30% by the end of the year seems not only possible, but LIKELY.
Fiat 500e tops electric vehicle sales in Germany (Again)
Another month, another victory for the little Italian. Thanks to 2,170 registrations, as in June, the electric Fiat again took the first place in July. It was a considerable distance, more than 700 units, over the second place VW ID.4.
Despite not winning the title of the best seller, the German crossover led a Volkswagen to the top places. Three Volkswagen models entered the top 5. In addition to the #2 position of the ID.4, the ID.3 was fourth and the small e-Up was 5th, leaving only two places for the competition. These two remaining places were filled by Stellantis. The number 3 Opel Corsa EV filled the Fiat 500e’s place at the top.
Interestingly, 6th position was taken over by another small car, with the tiny BMW i3 now doing its final laps at a brisk clip before entering the EV the sky. It was also the only BMW in the top 20, which raises two questions:
- Isn’t the i3 being retired too fast?
- Who will replace him on the bestseller list? The iX is too expensive and is outsold by the Audi e-tron, the i4 is missing in action, and the iX3 … well, let’s not even go there.
Other models had a chance to shine last month, such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which was #7 last month with 1,233 entries, a year better. Still in the top half of the table, we have two models with record scores, an unusual feat considering we were still in the holiday season. Audi Q4 e-tron #8 received a record 1,193 entries, highlighting recent production growth at Volkswagen galaxy EV. And at number 10 we have the Opel Mokka EV scoring a record performance, 1,173 entries, underlining Opel’s current peak form (… imagine a few years ago…).
The second half of the table also saw record results, with the Hyundai Tucson PHEV (1,025 units) and the sporty Cupra Born (1,012 units) taking their best ever results. The Spaniard benefited from the increase in production, something that can also be said for the Tesla Model Y – as the Berlin factory increases production, it is becoming less dependent on Made-in-China units, thereby avoiding the deep valleys of the first. months of the quarter. The Model Y had 1,035 units delivered last July, by far its best result in the first month of the quarter on German soil. We can expect a record performance next September from Tesla’s crossover. The question is: How high will it be?
Last month, Volkswagen Group had 9 representatives in July’s top 20. Or ten in the top 21, if we add the number 21 VW Tiguan PHEV (818 units, a new record). Not bad, Volkswagen, not bad….
Outside the top 20, the highlights are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which had a record 549 deliveries, and the Stellantis, which scored a positive performance from the Peugeot stable. The small Peugeot e-208 (748 registrations) was close to making the top 20, while the e-2008 crossover had its best result of the year last month, with 546 deliveries.
Finally, we have the Renault Megane EV with 752 registrations. The French hatchback was already Renault’s best-selling EV in Germany.
Fiat 500e has strong lead at #1 after 7 months
As for the 2022 table, the Fiat 500e gained a significant lead over runner-up Tesla Model 3, largely thanks to the city car’s performance last month, but also taking advantage of Tesla’s usual slow first month. With the Italian EV now holding a 2,500-unit lead over the American sedan, the cool Fiat is gaining a valuable head start that could prove crucial later in the year.
With the small Italian EV now a comfortable #1 in the German plug-in market, Stellantis finds itself leading the bestseller lists in both Germany and France.
We have to go down to the second half of the table to see the changes in positions. Climber of the month was the VW e-Up, which climbed 5 spots up the table to #11, while just below it, we have the BMW i3, which climbed to #12.
At the bottom of the table, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 climbed two places to 17th, while the Audi A3 PHEV replaced the Mercedes GLC PHEV in 20th. The Audi Q4 e-tron was at number 21, just two units behind its smaller sibling, so we could see PHEVs reduced to just four representative in the top 20 next month.
4 German brands lead the sales of vehicles in Germany
In the brand rankings, a surging Volkswagen (10.3%, down from 9.6%) dethroned previous leader BMW (9.9%, down from 10%), along with former runner-up Mercedes (9.3%, down from 9.8%). With both Premium brands losing ground, Volkswagen is getting back into it natural selfthe supplement market is getting closer to matching the overall market and less so heavy premium.
Audi (7.7%) remained in a comfortable 4th place and waits to see how much Mercedes and BMW fall. We could see the carmaker with the four rings competing for a place on the podium soon.
In the race for 5th position, Hyundai (6.3%, up from 6.1%) gained ground on Tesla (5.4%), but the American automaker should recover in September and may overtake the Korean brand by then.
Looking at the ranking from the OEM, the ranking remained the same. The Volkswagen Group has its domestic market well under control, having increased its market share by 0.9 points to 26.9%. It is followed at a distance by Stellantis, which – thanks to strong performances – rose by 0.1 percentage points to 13.8%, allowing it to gain a bit more distance on the declining Mercedes-Benz Group (11.5%, down 0.7 points) . Mercedes was even overtaken last month by the BMW Group (11.9%), although it too had lost share (-0.1%).
The #5 Hyundai–Kia collaboration (10.4%, up from 10%) had a good month and is safe from the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, in 6th place with an 8.6% share.
See last month’s German EV sales report: 26% of new car sales in Germany are plug-in, 14% fully electric.
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