Despite the Covid-related lockdown that sent the overall German auto market down 61% year over year (YoY) in April, the German plugin market grew 33% last month, having registered 10,253 units. That was mostly thanks to plugin hybrids (PHEVs), which jumped an amazing 87%. Full electrics (BEVs) were down 3%. Overall, April’s plugin share reached 8.5% (3.8% BEV), pulling the yearly tally to 7.6% (3.7% BEV).
And to think at the end of 2019 I was forecasting 6% share for 2020. …
April saw the VW e-Golf returning to the top spot, with the German brand milking its electric hatchback to the last drop, via generous discounts. It seems the veteran model is set to end its career on a high note.
We have a surprise in #4, with the Audi A3 PHEV scoring 411 registrations, beating the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV by 6 units to become last month’s best selling PHEV.
With the two Volkswagen Group old-timers winning both of the powertrain best seller trophies, it kind of reminds me of the movie Space Cowboys, where a bunch of veterans go from underdogs to heroes of the day.
Regarding the 2020 table, there’s nothing new among the front runners, with the podium bearers simply consolidating their positions. The same thing happened in the PHEV category, with the #4 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV extending its lead over the #5 VW Passat GTE to 137 units.
In the luxury category, the #6 Mercedes E300e/de twins recovered the lead, having surpassed the Audi e-tron, while its stablemate A3 PHEV joined the top 10, at the cost of the BMW i3, which is far away from its best days when it competed for #1.
In the second half of the table, a mention is due to the Hyundai Kona EV, which climbed to #14, while the Volvo S/V60 PHEV twins joined the table in #17, a surprising performance from the Swedes. One wonders if in the future the Volvo S/V60 PHEV will be able to tackle the local heroes, the #12 BMW 330e and #9 Mercedes C300e/de.
Outside the top 20, the BMW X3 PHEV (362 units) and X5 PHEV (291) continued to impress, and should climb into the top 20 soon, while the Mini Cooper EV confirmed its success across the continent by registering 263 units last month in Germany.
In the brand ranking, Volkswagen (16%, down 1 percentage point) leads the way, with BMW (10%) surpassing Audi (9%, down 1 point) and becoming the new runner-up. Meanwhile, #4 Mercedes (8%, down 1 point) and #5 Renault (8%) are trying to come from behind to reach a medal position.
Here’s another view of the top plug-in vehicles with “Others” included, which covers all the other plug-in models combined:
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