Tesla Model 3 Tsunami (Swiss Edition)

April 16th, 2019 by Jose Pontes

The Swiss plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market smashed its previous sales record (1,341 registrations) last month by registering 2,162 vehicles. That meant that the PEV share jumped to 7.5% (6.4% from fully electric vehicles and 1.1% from plug-in hybrids), pulling the 2019 PEV share to 5.3% and thus almost doubling last year’s result.

The Tesla Model 3 delivery tsunami was the main reason for this brilliant performance, with the sedan scoring 1,094 registrations. That’s not only an absolute record for a plug-in vehicle, but also the first time that an electric vehicle is #1 on the vehicle market — across all fuel sources.

In the 2019 ranking, the Model 3 is #4 on the overall market, well ahead of its direct petrol/diesel competition, the Mercedes C-Class, which is only #9 in the mainstream market with 1,127 registrations. With even the #2 Volkswagen Golf (1,681 registrations) not that far away, the Californian could easily reach the runner-up spot this year. If it’s really ambitious, it could even aspire to remove the Skoda Octavia (2,361 units) from the leadership position.

But while the Model 3 is pulling plug-ins to new heights, the Tesla Model S and X are losing steam. Both ended 2018 in the PEV top 5, but the highest placed (Model S) is now only #8.

Their petrol/diesel competitors are also further ahead. Last year, the Model S was running at the same pace as its category best sellers. This year, the class’s best seller (Mercedes E-Class — 551 units) is selling much more than the Tesla flagship. Things for the Model X are even worse. Last year, it managed to feature regularly in the category’s top 5, but now it is only #12 in the full size SUV class … and only 4 units ahead of the brand new Audi e-tron.

The Audi e-tron landed on the right foot, by delivering 93 units in its debut month, jumping immediately to #11 and sitting only 4 units behind the Tesla Model X. Two other fairly new long-range electric vehicles are also shining, with the Hyundai Kona EV in #4 and the Jaguar I-PACE in #9.

On the plug-in hybrid side, the leader is the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, in #5, being followed by the #7 Volvo XC60 PHEV, which is 48 units behind the Japanese SUV.

Another Swede in the news is the new generation Volvo V60 PHEV, which joined the top 20 in #16, delivering 31 units last month. That was the nameplate’s best performance ever on this market.

In the manufacturer ranking, Switzerland is now Tesla turf (Tesla has 42% share of the PEV market), while Renault (10%) is in a distant 2nd place, followed by BMW (9%) and Volvo (8%), which is set to return to the medal positions soon.

Rank Model March 2019 2019 PEV Share 1 Tesla Model 3 1,094 1,371 36% 2 Renault Zoe 151 364 10% 3 BMW i3 79 222 6% 4 Hyundai Kona EV 82 214 6% 5 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 86 181 5% 6 Nissan Leaf 46 163 4% 7 Volvo XC60 PHEV 39 133 4% 8 Tesla Model S 80 129 3% 9 Jaguar I-PACE 70 123 3% 10 Tesla Model X 68 97 3% 11 Audi e-Tron 93 93 2% 12 Mini Countryman PHEV 37 91 2% 13 BMW 225xe Active Tourer 19 85 2% 14 VW e-Golf 34 78 2% 15 Volvo XC90 PHEV 25 68 2% 16 Volvo V60 PHEV 31 42 1% 17 Land Rover Range Rover Sport PHEV 10 31 1% 18 Smart Fortwo ED 3 30 1% 19 Kia Niro PHEV 24 29 1% 20 Land Rover Range Rover PHEV 7 26 1% + Others 84 229 6% = TOTAL 2,162 3,799 100%











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