Volkswagen Takes 3 Out Of Top 4 Spots In July In Germany — Plugin Vehicle Sales Report

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The German plugin vehicle market scored over 55,000 registrations last month, with both plugin powertrains slowing down their growth (+52% year over year for BEVs and +58% year over year for PHEVs, compared with 185% and 182% respectively in the 2021 tally). As a result, last month’s plugin share ended at 24% (11% BEV), and if we add the 14% share of plugless hybrids (full hybrids + mild hybrids) to the plugin tally, we find that 38% of all registrations in the German passenger car market had some form of electrification last month. If you also consider the significant fall of the overall market (-25% YoY), that means diesel (-43% YoY) and petrol (-40%) sales are falling off a cliff.

So, this is what disruption looks like….

The yearly plugin vehicle market share stayed stable at 23% (11% BEV). There were 367,905 plugin vehicle registrations in the first seven months of the year. This market is firmly in The Disruption Zone and well ahead of last year’s score of 14% plugin vehicle market share. Will we see the final 2021 market share hit 25% 30%?

Looking at last month’s best sellers, with the Tesla Model 3 going off for holidays in July, the Volkswagen e-Up! resumed its winning streak, hitting 2,556 deliveries. The little city car ended ahead of two other Volkswagen frontrunners, the #2 ID.3 and the #4 Golf PHEV, with the Ford Kuga PHEV taking bronze, preventing the German brand from making a 1-2-3 win. Ford’s compact SUV also won the gold in the Best Selling PHEV category.

Off the podium, we have a surprise in #5, with the Mercedes GLC300e/de reappearing on the table after being absent in June, thanks to 1,440 registrations.

In fact, after a poor showing in June (chip shortage?), when Mercedes had no representative in the top 20, the three-pointed-star models came back in full swing. Besides the GLC’s strong performance, the A250e compact (#7 with 1,321 units) and the CLA250e sports sedan (#19 with 880 units) also posted good results, making it 3 Mercedes in the top 20.

Of the remaining top 10, a mention goes out to the Fiat 500e. Thanks to a near-record 1,256 deliveries, the 500e was 10th last month.

And while the Italian city car was close to beating its personal best in one of the slowest selling months of the year, two models actually managed such a feat. The attractive Opel Mokka EV crossover scored a record 916 registrations, allowing it to reach #17, and the #13 Audi Q3 PHEV ended the month with 1,043 registrations.

Outside this top 20, a mention goes out to one important landing. The much-hyped BMW iX SUV started its career in Germany with 239 registrations, no doubt demonstration units. BMW expects large volumes in the coming months, hoping for it to become the full-size category’s future best seller. We will have to wait a few months until we have a better assessment of how high the first dedicated BEV from BMW since it launched the i3 back in 2013 can get.

Also, we should mention that several new models are in ramp-up mode, like the Korean Hyundai Ioniq 5, an XL retro-hatchback with a unique personality that jumped to #21 in July with a record 831 registrations in only its 3rd month on the market.

The Mercedes EQA scored 779 registrations, while the little Dacia Spring had 548 registrations in only its second month on the market. The Ford Mustang Mach-E was slightly lower with 440 deliveries last month.

Regarding the 2021 table, the Volkswagen ID.3 surpassed the Tesla Model 3 last month, with German compact EV now holding silver, but expect it to lose the medal again to the Californian in September. The last quarter of the year should host a close race between these two.

Other models on the rise are the Ford Kuga PHEV, which jumped two positions to 7th in July, and the Audi A3 PHEV, up to #11.

We have a new face in the second half of the table, with the popular Fiat 500e starting its career in the table in #18, allowing BEVs to reach parity in the table with plugin hybrids (10 models each).

And two other pure electric models are knocking on the top 20. The #21 Mini Cooper EV was just 31 units behind the #20 BMW X1 PHEV, and the rising Skoda Enyaq was in #22, a mere 144 units behind the Beemer. We should see BEVs become the majority in the table next month.

In the brand ranking, Volkswagen (18%) is clearly leading its home market, followed by Mercedes (11%, up 1 percentage point) and BMW (10%), while #4 Audi (8%, up 1%) is not too far away. The “VW Premium” brand is enjoying a comfortable lead over Hyundai, Renault, and Skoda, which have 5% each.

Looking at the ranking by OEM, the standings remained the same, with Volkswagen Group having its domestic market well in control. It has an impressive 37% share, followed at a distance by Daimler (15%) and BMW Group (11%).

The best selling foreign (well, mostly foreign …) automotive group was Stellantis (9%). Once again, without rocking the boat, Stellantis is delivering solid performances across Europe, and in Germany in particular, where it runs ahead of the #5 Hyundai–Kia collab (8%) and the #6 Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.


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José Pontes

Always interested in the auto industry, particularly in electric cars, Jose has been overviewed the sales evolution of plug-ins on the EV Sales blog, allowing him to gain an expert view on where EVs are right now and where they are headed in the future. The EV Sales blog has become a go-to source for people interested in electric car sales around the world. Extending that work and expertise, Jose is also market analyst on EV-Volumes and works with the European Alternative Fuels Observatory on EV sales matters.

José Pontes has 469 posts and counting. See all posts by José Pontes