The Netherlands got most of the press from EV fans in recent weeks and months thanks to a stunning 54% plug-in vehicle (PEV) market share at the end of 2019 and the Tesla Model 3 bagging approximately twice as many 2019 sales as the #2 Volkswagen Polo.
The Tesla Model 3 continued to hog the throne on top of the US premium-class car market at the end of 2019. For the full year, the Model 3 accounted for 23% of small and midsize luxury car sales. In other words, nearly 1 out of every 4 small or midsize luxury cars sold in 2019 was a Tesla Model 3.
Iceland made it clear that winning the silver medal was a piece of cake for the island nation, as it logged a massive 25% EV market share in 2019.
For several years, we’ve considered BMW to be most at risk from Tesla’s rise. The BMW brand’s trademark “the ultimate driving machine” tagline got stolen away from the German automaker. (Even Edmunds went out and called the Tesla Model 3 the ultimate driving machine.) Want the most advanced driving tech? Coolest cat on the block?
Led by the Tesla Model 3, December had an amazing 22,983 plug-in registrations, a three-fold increase compared to the same month last year, finally beating one of the oldest records in modern EV history, the 15,879 units sold in the Netherlands in December 2016.
We may have some more high-selling blockbuster electric vehicles in 2020, but 2019 had one electric vehicle that was in a league of its own, the Tesla Model 3. Through November, the Model 3 had almost 3× the sales of the world’s 2nd best selling EV, the BAIC EU-Series, and it had more than 4× the sales of the world’s 2nd best selling non-Chinese EV.
Sweden probably isn’t one of the first countries that come to mind when talking about electric vehicle leaders, but plug-in vehicles have a higher market share there than in almost any other country in the world. In 2019, 11% of auto sales were sales of plug-in vehicles.
The European passenger plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market landed some 55,000 registrations in November (+44%), with the Dutch market and plug-in hybrids (+80% year over year, or YoY) pulling the market up the most, while fully electric vehicles (BEVs) were waiting for the 2020 flood (+23%, their lowest growth rate since June 2018).
Something clicked in the German plug-in vehicle market after the summer holidays. After two consecutive record months, November saw 10,985 units registered, only the second five-digit performance in Germany’s history, after the record 11,926 units of October. It seems Europe’s e-locomotive has finally been set in motion, which is a promising sign for 2020.
The Tesla Model 3 continues to dominate the US premium-class car market. In fact, it has dominated this market to such an extent that it has more sales in 2019 than all of BMW’s small & midsize models combined, all of Mercedes-Benz’s small & midsized models combined, all of Audi’s small & midsized models combined, all of Lexus’s small & midsized models combined, etc.
