Germany December 2015

Kia Soul EV Superstar *

For the first time ever, the 3.000 sales barrier was surpassed last month in Germany, registering 3.179 units, up 104% regarding the same month last year, with the EV Share ending the year at a record 0.75%, a significant departure from 2014, having recorded at the time 0.44% share. 

Total sales in 2015 mounted to 24.171 units, a 83% increase over last year.

The Kia Soul EV ended the year with another amazing performance, registering 918* units, relegating the Renault Zoe (450 units) back to Second Place, an interesting stat on the french hatch is that three out the best four performances in this market came in the last three months of the year, does this mean that the Zoe is finally living up to its full sales potential?

Below the Top Two, the BMW i3 posted an impressive 334 units, its second sales record in a row, the VW Passat GTE was Fourth, and the Tesla Model S posted an impressive Fifth Spot, with a personal best score of 234 units, enough to beat such illustrious competitors like the Porsche Panamera (78 units), BMW 6-Series (120) or Audi A7 (217), losing out only to the Mercedes CLS (326 sales), in the Four-Door-Sports-Sedan-Thingy competition.

Pl	Model	Sales
1	Kia Soul EV	918
2	Renault Zoe	450
3	BMW i3	334
4	Volkwagen Passat GTE	244
5	Tesla Model S	234

Looking at the YTD ranking, plenty of changes as usual, the BMW i3 jumped to #2, surpassing the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and VW Golf GTE, while the Renault Zoe another position to #6, relegating the Tesla Model S to #7, a curious fact regarding the all-electric sedan is that despite seeing its sales increase 94% YoY, it actually fell one position regarding the 2014 ranking.

But, as we all know it, the EV ranking isn't the real success measure for Tesla, as its real competition have ICE motors, if we compare it with other four-door-sports-sedans, all playing at home, the Model S is still behind them (1.582 units for the "S" vs 1.751 for Porsche Panamera, 2.164 for the BMW 6-Series, 4.129 for the Audi A7 and 5.122 for the Mercedes CLS), but if the Californian sales grow by 50% next year, Porsche and BMW can be beaten at their own home... 

The Volkswagen Passat GTE switched positions with the Nissan Leaf, climbing to #9, while the Mercedes C350e climbed two positions to #13.

In the manufacturers ranking, Volkswagen (20% Share) won its first manufacturers title, followed by Kia (16%), while last year front runner, BMW, ended in Third with 13% share.

Below, you will find the 2015 Trophy Room:

Best Selling BEV & Small Car: Kia Soul EV, 3.839 units. the Surprise Of The Year*, representing a 72% jump over the 2014 result, achieved by the BMW i3;

Best Selling PHEV & SUV: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, 2.128 units. The japanese SUV repeated the same trophies of 2014, while at the same time doubled sales and won its first podium, ending 2015 in Third;

Rookie Of The Year: Volkswagen Passat GTE, 996 units. Volkswagen willing, this could be a serious candidate for the Best Seller Trophy;

Looking at the BEV / PHEV breakdown, PHEV's increased significantly their share, growing from 25% in 2014, to the current 41%, thanks in most part to new models in the market, so expect this trend to go throughout 2016.

It is hard to predict 2016 in this market, as it is fertile in surprises, but i would say the VW Passat GTE will become a major player, while the Renault Zoe might finally see its sales increase significantly. Expect new models to appear and make an impact, especially the VW Tiguan GTE. As for sales predictions, i would say that fast growth will continue, so my guess will be around 35-40k units. 

Pl	Germany	Dec.	YTD'15	%	'14 Pl
1	Kia Soul EV	918	3.839	16	28
2	BMW i3 (1)	324	2.271	9	1
3	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV	131	2.128	9	5
4	Volkswagen Golf GTE	143	2.109	9	13
5	Audi A3 e-Tron	98	1.839	8	10
6	Renault Zoe	450	1.787	7	3
7 8 9	Tesla Model S Volkswagen e-Golf Volkswagen Passat GTE	234 45 244	1.582 1.092 996	7 5 4	6 8 N/A
10	Nissan Leaf	27	948	4	7
11	Smart Fortwo ED	16	676	3	2
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 33 36 36 38 39 40	Volkswagen e-Up! Mercedes C350e   e) Mercedes B-Class ED Renault Twizy BMW i8 Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Volvo V60 Plug-In Mercedes S500e   e) BMW 225xe Act. T. PHEV Renault Kangoo ZE e) BMW X5 40e PHEV Porsche Panamera Plug-In Audi Q7 e-Tron Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Toyota Prius Plug-In Mitsubishi I-Miev Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-in Mercedes GLE500e Porsche 918 Opel Ampera BMW 330e Ford Focus Electric Peugeot Partner EV Citröen Berlingo EV Citröen C-Zero Peugeot iOn Audi R8 e-Tron Renault Fluence ZE Volkswagen XL1	39 119 28 26 15 19 74 20 2 15 26 16 18 21 3 4 71 15 1 1 1 3 2	547 501 485 435 393 356 321 267 263 180 163 157 155 148 112 98 77 75 46 24 19 15 15 15 12 12 6 5 2	2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0	4 N/A 16 9 11 19 12 20 N/A N/A N/A 14 N/A 21 15 N/A N/A N/A 25 18 N/A 26 N/A N/A 24 23 N/A 31 N/A
	TOTAL	3.179	24.171	100

(1) - 124 Bev + 210 Rex

* - In a possibly related topic, in 2015 there were 2.000 Kia Soul EV's imported to Norway...

Source: kba.de