Monday, February 8, 2016

USA January 2016

Back to #1





(Small) Recovery Edition

With sales above 6.000 units, the numbers were up 5% YoY, it looks that the US EV market is back in positive territory for good.

After two years away from the leadership, the Chevy Volt is back at #1, although numbers are still small (It's January, slowest selling month of the year), it is a positive sign or recovery for the american car, now in its second generation.

After a deliveries push in the last couple of months, the 2015 leader, Tesla Model S, slowed down and dropped to #2, something that can be explained for being the first month of the Quarter (Is always the slowest), but also because of the ramping up of production of the Model X, #5 in January with 370 deliveries, how high in the ranking the Electric-Sports-SUV-Minivan will reach? It all depends on Tesla priorities, but i wouldn't be surprised to see it fight for a podium seat once it is on full-production mode.

The #3 Nissan Leaf started the year with 755 units, its worst January since 2013, while the most recent arrivals continue to have encouraging performances, like the Audi A3 e-Tron (327 units) already reaching its cousin VW e-Golf in the ranking, the Volvo XC90 PHEV reaching #10, with 226 units, ahead of last year class leader, Porsche Cayenne Plug-In (146 units) and BMW X5 PHEV (181). Good performance also by the Hyundai Sonata Plug-In (175 sales) continuing to improve its sales level.

In the manufacturers ranking, Tesla (19%) started ahead, but Chevrolet (18%) and Ford (16%) are too close for the all-electric brand to rest.

PlUSAJan.YTD%
1Chevrolet Volt99699616
2Tesla Model S e)80980913
3Nissan Leaf75575512
4Ford Fusion Energi5815819
5Tesla Model X3703706
6Ford C-Max Energi3503506
7Volkswagen e-Golf3283285
8Audi A3 e-Tron3273275
9Fiat 500e2752754
10Volvo XC90 T8 PHEV2262264
11BMW i31821823
12
13
14
15
BMW X5 40e PHEV
Hyundai Sonata Plug-In
Porsche Cayenne Plug-In
Chevrolet Spark EV
181
175
146
139
181
175
146
139
3
3
2
2
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Kia Soul EV
Cadillac ELR
Ford Focus Electric
Mercedes B250e
Smart Fortwo ED
BMW i8
Por. Panamera Plug-In
Mercedes S550e
Toyota Prius Plug-In
Mitsubishi I-Miev
81
67
66
58
48
32
27
19
10
2
81
67
66
58
48
32
27
19
10
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0

TOTAL6.2506.250100

e) Estimate




Source: insideevs.com; Good Car Bad Car


Tesla vs The Others

As Elon Musk pointed out, the real competition of Tesla aren't other EV's, but the ICE best selling models, so let's look how the Model S stands in its own domestic market (1)

PlModel    2016
1BMW 5-Series3.795
2Mercedes E-Class2.503
3Lexus GS1.295
4Cadillac CTS1.013
5
6
Audi A6
Tesla Model S e)
841
809
  
For the first month of 2016, the Model S had a slow sales month, with the Lexus GS, Cadillac CTS and Audi A6 all surpassing it.



(1) - Unlike markets across the pond, the full-size car market in the US is much more diversified, with Chevy Impalas, Malibu's, Chrysler 300, Dodge Chargers, etc, all theoretical adversaries to the Model S, but Tesla's direct competition isn't there, so the Model S is only compared with cars with similar price and concept.


3 comments:

  1. Elon Musk on today's Tesla earnings call

    “Even on our competitors’ home turf and in countries without government incentives to purchase electric vehicles, Model S is winning. For example, in Switzerland, Model S outsold the Mercedes Benz S-Class, the BMW 7-Series, the Porsche Panamera and the Audi A-8 combined for the full year, and also outsold the Mercedes Benz E-Class.

    In Germany in Q4, Model S outsold the Porsche Panamera. Finally, across all of Europe last year Model S outsold the Audi A8 and A7 combined and the BMW 7-Series and 6-Series combined.”

    Tesla Model S is an F segment car and Tesla compares its sales to other F segment cars.

    When it mentions E Class it adds "also" in addition to outselling S Class, meaning a lower segment vehicle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If we want to be srict regarding concept, price and size, the most direct competitors of the Model S are the Audi A7, Mercedes CLS and BMW 6-Series, but these models are sporty-upmarket versions of the Audi A6, Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-Series.

      So here's a question: Do we want to compare Tesla to niche products & numbers, or do we compare it with the real competition?

      My answer: The bulk of the market, of course. Musk doesn't consider Tesla as a niche brand, and for that, we need to compare it with the A6's, E-Class and 5-Series of this world, that run for the segment leadership.

      Delete
    2. Right so, and Model X vs. BMW X6 vs Merc GLE for the furture ;-)

      Delete