25% Of New Car Sales Now Electric In The Netherlands!

December 20, 20222 years ago José Pontes 0 Comments

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The Dutch auto market grew 2% in November, to almost 28,000 registrations. As for the local plugin vehicle (PEV) market, it was down by 8% year over year (YoY)! This apparently bad news has a silver lining, as it means that the Dutch plugin market is done having end-of-year peaks and then hangovers in the first month of the following year. So, next year, this market should start with a significant YoY increase over January 2022.

Looking at sales by powertrain, pure electrics, which were down 9% YoY, represented 25% of all new vehicle sales. Plugin hybrids (PHEVs) were down 6% in November. Although, many of the 2,820 PHEVs registered in November are just one model — the Lynk & Co 01 PHEV, which represented 22% of all PHEV sales last month. Overall, PHEVs represented 10% of the country’s auto market in November.

Overall, the year-to-date (YTD) market share for plugin vehicles was up one percent, to 33% (21% BEV). Highlighting an ongoing shift in the market toward BEVs, full electrics had 71% of plugin sales in November, up from the 65% average of 2022.

20 Top Selling Plugin Vehicles in the Netherlands — November 2022

Lynk & Co’s 01 PHEV crossover is becoming something of a case study in the Netherlands. It won November’s best seller race, its fourth consecutive best seller title in Dutch lands. The model achieved 614 registrations last month, allowing it to end November in 5th place in the overall auto market. Paradoxically, the Lynk & Co model was the only PHEV model in the top 20. Imagine if Lynk & Co had a 100% electric model on offer! (Speaking of this, it is rumored that the successful Zeekr 001 fastback-ish could land in Europe next year. To be continued. …)

Next, we have the Lynk & Co’s Swedish cousin, the Volvo XC40 EV, in 3rd place, with 479 registrations. The BEV version represented 73% of all XC40 registrations in this market last month, which added to the 102 units of the PHEV version (15% of all deliveries). Overall, 88% of all Volvo XC40 registered in the Netherlands in November had a plug. If the BEV and PHEV versions were counted together, this model would end up with 581 registrations and it would land above the Skoda Enyaq, which had 521 registrations. As tabulated, the Czech EV ended the month 8th on the overall auto market.

In 4th, we have the Peugeot e-208 EV, with 371 registrations, followed by the BMW i4, which finally seems to have found its mojo (or maybe BMW got enough components to make more units?). In 6th we have a surprise, with the Audi e-tron soaring upward for its best result of the year, 295 registrations. The surprise is greater when we realize that the Big Audi will soon get a deep refresh, which will even include a name change — the Belgian-built Audi will be called the Q8 e-tron from then on.

The #11 Renault Megane EV had another record month, its second in a row, with 239 registrations. The French hatchback-that-thinks-it’s-a-crossover benefited from a production ramp-up.

Still on the second half of the table, a reference goes out to two other record performances. The #16 Dacia Spring scored 208 registrations, while the sporty VW ID.5 SUV joined the table in #20, thanks to a record 140 registrations. With the ID.5’s entrance, that’s six MEB-platform models in this top 20. If we count all these MEB-based models together, we get 1,560 registrations, meaning that 23% of all BEV sales in the Netherlands came from Volkswagen Group’s dedicated platform last month. It seems the much announced scaling benefits of the MEB platform are finally kicking in….

Finally, after the record score of the Opel Mokka EV in October, it was time for the Opel Corsa EV to shine, ending the month in #14 with a year-best result of 215 registrations.

Outside the top 20, a few models deserve mention. Besides the good results of the Opel Mokka EV and Mini Cooper EV, scoring 133 registrations each, the Porsche Taycan had 109 registrations, its best result since January.

A mention is also due for two recent landings. The Toyota BZ4X got 88 registrations, and the BYD Atto 3, also known as the BYD Yuan Plus in other markets, had 83 registrations. Two PHEV models saw record scores, albeit for different reasons. While the recently released Peugeot 308 PHEV was up to 111 registrations in November as a consequence of its regular production ramp-up (a good omen for the upcoming 308 EV), the 129 registrations of the Volkswagen Tiguan PHEV are the result of the chip shortage easing — which has allowed Volkswagen to finally satisfy order backlogs it had for its regular ICE/PHEV models.

20 Top Selling Plugin Vehicles in the Netherlands — January–November 2022

Looking at the 2022 ranking, the Lynk & Co 01 PHEV gained 93 units, and despite having only a 140-unit advantage over the runner-up Skoda Enyaq, the truth is that the Lynk & Co model now seems unbeatable. So, it looks like the Czech model will have to settle for the silver medal among plugins.

The Volvo XC40 EV was up to #7, and if we were to add the BEV and PHEV versions of the XC40 together, the Swedish model would be 2nd in the table, with 5,040 registrations.

The VW ID.4 climbed one position, to 9th, and could surpass the #8 Audi Q4 e-tron in December, as the compact Audi is just 101 units ahead.

The second half of the table also had plenty of action.

The Polestar 2 jumped two positions, to #15. The remaining action came from the Volkswagen Group stable. The Cupra Born went up one spot, to #19, and in #20 we now have the Audi e-tron. The SUV kicked the VW ID.3 off the table, if only by 23 units. The Volkswagen hatchback still has a chance to return to the table in December.

5 Top Selling Plugin Vehicle Brands — January–November 2022

In the brand ranking, Volvo (9.7%, up from 9.6%) consolidated its leadership position, while Kia (8.6%, down from 8.8%) is having a horrible 4th quarter, having dropped 0.5% share and two positions (it was #1 in September and is now 3rd) in just two months. That was to the benefit of Volvo passing up Kia in October and now BMW (8.7%) surpassing the Korean brand in November. The Bavarian make is now pushed into the runner-up spot.

Meanwhile, #4 Peugeot (7.0%, up from 6.9%) kept it together, unlike Mercedes (5.7%, down from 5.9%), which dropped to #6, being surpassed by Škoda (5.8%). A rising Volkswagen (5.7%, up from 5.4%) is fewer than 100 units behind.

5 Top Selling Plugin Vehicle OEMs — January–November 2022

As for OEMs, Volkswagen Group (20.4%, up 0.3%) is comfortable in the leadership position, something that runner-up Stellantis (17.2%, down from 17.4%) cannot say, as #3 Geely–Volvo has seen its share grow closer (17.1% now vs. 16.8% a month ago) thanks to brilliant performances from all of its brands. If this trend continues, we should get a brand crossover before the end of the year.

4th placed Hyundai–Kia saw its share drop in October from 13.0% to 12.7%. 5th placed BMW Group (10.9%) seems to have bottomed out after falling sales. BMW Group’s transition into a more BEV-heavy lineup is now starting to bear fruit, and the company must be hoping the upcoming iX1 crossover becomes a sales success.