Turn the Tide Edition
Thanks to a new article on RAC Foundation, i can now post a ranking regarding UK's First Quarter of the Year.
Over 10.000 plug-ins were sold in the first Quarter of the year in the UK, up 23% YoY, down from the three digits growth rates of last year, but still firmly in positive territory and allowing the EV Share to stay above the 1% threshold. Now about that Brexit thing...
Anyway, looking at the models ranking, Britain's most popular plug-ins, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Nissan Leaf, which a year ago owned two thirds of the market, they have lost share in a most significant way, now holding less than 30% of the market, inclusively with the Japanese hatch losing the Third position to the Mercedes C350e, all while the Tesla Model S saw their deliveries grow three fold, reaching the Fourth Position and becoming the surprise of the ranking, together with the Mercedes midsize offering, that beat all predictions to an amazing Second Place. It seems the tide is changing and Company/Fleet buyers have new favorites...
Regarding the rest of the ranking, two newcomers made an impact, the Volvo XC90 PHEV landed with an impressive #7, just like the 330e, which is now #9, not far from its i3 brethren, which dropped from #3 to #8. Did buyers preferred to go for the more normal 330e instead of the Star Wars-looking i3?
A final reference for the drop in sales of the BMW i8, down 48%, but despite this slowing down of sales, the UK is still the second largest market for the German Sports Car, only behind the USA.
| Pl | UK | Q1 '16 | % '16 | Q1'15 | Pos. '15 |
| 1 | Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | 3.395 | 21 | 4.500 | 1 |
| 2 | Mercedes C350e | 1.300 | 8 | N/A | N/A |
| 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Nissan Leaf Tesla Model S Volkswagen Golf GTE Renault Zoe Volvo XC90 T8 BMW i3 BMW 330eBMW X5 40e Nissan e-NV200 / Evalia Audi A3 e-Tron BMW i8 Porsche Cayenne Plug-In Toyota Prius Plug-In | 1.250 739 611 591 523 491 340 200 196 177 141 80 71 | 8 5 4 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 | 1.436 205 4 265 N/A 652 N/A N/A 121 234 267 60 71 | 2 8 5 4 N/A 3 N/A N/A 9 6 7 11 13 |