45% Of New Cars In Netherlands Now Plugin Cars! – CleanTechnica

In the Netherlands, 45% of new car sales were plugin car sales in August. Furthermore, 33% were full electrics.

The Netherlands saw an increase in plugin registrations to 12,518 units in August, with the Dutch plugin vehicle (PEV) market thus reaching 45% of the overall auto market last month. That kept the year-to-date (YTD) score at 42%. That’s mostly thanks to pure electrics (33% of new vehicle sales), which jumped 58% year over year (YoY). The overall market is also rising — although, at a slower rate (+19% YoY). It rose to 27,825 registrations.

Expect the final plugin share for 2023 to end close to 50%, probably around 47%, which could mean that the Dutch market could have its EV transition finished before the end of the decade!

Looking at the BEV vs. PHEV breakdown, pure electrics had 73% of total plugin sales in August, pulling the YTD average to 69%. I do expect the BEV share to end 2023 at 80%, a significant advance over the 69% share of 2022, which might mean that PHEVs will lose relevance in this market soon and it will become a BEV-based market.

In August, Tesla had gold and silver in the EV race, with the Model Y also ending in #1 of the overall Dutch auto sales ranking. The Model 3 was 4th overall.

The US models were followed by the Kia Niro, which ended the month in 3rd with 539 registrations (519 of them being BEV). That was the Korean’s best result in this 2nd generation and the nameplate’s best result since December 2021.

Looking at the overall top 10, only four models (#2 Kia Picanto, #6 Toyota Aygo X, #8 Toyota Yaris, and #9 VW Polo) don’t have plugin versions. Interestingly, all are either city cars (Picanto and Aygo) or belong to the B-segment/subcompact category (Yaris and Polo).

As for the larger models in the top 10 (Tesla Model Y and Model 3, Skoda Enyaq, Kia Niro), they are all either BEV-only or heavily electrified (76% of all Kia Niro registrations were BEVs), which means that while the EV transition in the upper half of the market is well advanced, the lower half still has a long way to go. Those promised €20,000 to €25,000 small EVs are badly needed….

The summer holiday season hasn’t brought many highlights. The MG4 surged to 8th position, with 302 registrations, while the BMW iX1 ended the month in 7th, with 325 registrations, confirming both models’ popularity.

At the bottom end of the table, we have surprise in #20, with the Cupra Born showing up on the table, thanks to 167 registrations, a new year best.

Outside the top 20, one can tell it was a slow month, with the only highlights being the 151 registrations of the Audi Q8 e-tron (confirming its leadership in the full size segment) and the Jeep Avenger EV’s 154 deliveries. We could have the little Jeep in the table soon.

Looking at the 2023 ranking, the Tesla Model Y has enough distance over runner-up Lynk & Co 01 PHEV to remain comfortable in the lead. The compact Chinese SUV has gained some ground over its cousin, the #3 Volvo XC40, with the Swede now 402 units behind the Lynk & Co model. The XC40 sales have been suffering since the Volvo EX30 has been presented. Coincidence?…

Off the podium, and seeing the Geely-Volvo models slowing down, three models are now looking to replace them in the table: the #4 Peugeot e-208 EV, the #5 Skoda Enyaq and #6 Tesla Model 3.

All three of them have good perspectives for a strong end of the year, but if i had to bet, i would say the Tesla model, which jumped 4 positions last month, will benefit from the recent refresh to have a very high tide in December, to reach the 2nd position, while the French model, also benefitting from the upcoming refresh, will be running with the current podium bearers for the last position in the podium

Another highlight in the top positions is the Kia Niro, that was up two positions, to 7th, confirming its popularity in Dutch roads.

In the second half of the table, one highlight was the BMW iX1, which jumped two positions to #16 and is now only three positions below the best selling BMW, the i4. Expect the crossover to surpass the sporty liftback soon, if not in September, then surely by October.

Finally, we have a new face in the table, with the MG4 showing up in #20, and expect the hot selling model to continue climbing positions as SAIC expands the model’s portfolio (Long Range and Performance versions).

In the manufacturer ranking, leader Tesla (11.1%, up from 10.5%) and runner-up Volvo (8.3%, down from 8.9%) went in opposite directions. Volvo’s drop is coming after a series of slow months, with the Swedish brand losing more than 1% share in just two months (it had 9.4% in June). Is the future EX30 already drying up demand for the current XC40?

Meanwhile, BMW (8.3%, up from 8.2%) remained in 3rd and is now looking to benefit from Volvo’s steep descent in order to climb up to the runner-up position in September. Peugeot (7.0%) remained stable in 4th thanks to the good results of its 208 model. The French make thus stayed ahead of #5 Volkswagen (6.8%).

As for OEMs, Stellantis (16.4%, up 0.1%) gained ground on the former leader, Geely–Volvo, which again lost share, going from 15.8% down to 14.8%. That’s far from the 18.3% it had in May! While Polestar helped to soften the loss, Volvo and Lynk & Co seem to be in freefall, causing the OEM to lose a full 1% share in just one month.

Worse still for Geely, rising Volkswagen Group (15.4%, up from 15.2%) surpassed it and is now the new silver medalist, dropping the Chinese conglomerate to 3rd, which is a two-position drop in just a couple of months.

Expect the German OEM to go after the #1 spot now that leader Stellantis is within target range (16.4% vs. 15.4%). Another position change may happen here in a few months.

Finally, Tesla (11.1%) recovered the #4 spot from the Koreans, Hyundai–Kia, which nevertheless had a positive month (11%, up 0.1%).