Februaryʼs Electric Car Market Review: Tesla vs. Nissan

Experts of the Institute of Car Market Research analyzed the statistics of registrations of cars with electric power plants and identified the Top 20 brands and models in three segments: import of used cars, domestic resale and purchase of new electric cars.

Dynamics of the electric car market

In February, Ukrainians bought 6,100 new and used electric cars. This is 166.2% more than last February 2023, and 10% more than January 2024.

After the stay of this segment for several months on a "statistical plateau", which at the beginning of the year was replaced by a noticeable "subsidence", the most recent trading results show the return of volumes to the level of the just-mentioned "plateau" — it is interesting how events will develop in the following months, because now in Ukraine the offer (the number of ads on all resources for the sale of motor vehicles) is 4 times greater than the number of such vehicles purchased during the month.

What does the electric car market look like in Ukraine? Used imported electric cars predominate here, their share was 53.6%, and the number of first registrations was 3,282.

In the domestic market, 1,829 purchase and sale agreements for electric vehicles were concluded, which is a share of 29.9%.

16.5% of electric cars (1009 units) were bought new, and this is the first time that it was possible for the new sector to cross the milestone of one thousand units in a month (which is also the shortest of the year), and set another historical quantitative maximum for new electric cars.

Among the total number of electric cars in February, 99.4% were passenger cars, 0.6% (34 units) were trucks.

As of the beginning of 2024, according to the Institute of Car Market Research, the total fleet of vehicles with electric motors is 93,936 units., registered in Ukraine (with the exception of those deregistered due to culling and export abroad): 91,659 cars, 2,272 trucks and 5 buses. The numbers suggest that supporters of electric mobility will celebrate the first hundred thousand electric cars in the Ukrainian fleet in 2 months.

Electric cars are a domestic market

Three brands are the leaders in the Ukrainian domestic electric car market. The most powerful competition is unfolding between Nissan, which manages to hold the championship for almost 10 years thanks to the most affordable and therefore the most popular electric car Nissan Leaf, but it is being overtaken by Tesla.

Statistics show that the unsuccessful political position of the founder of the mentioned American company with regard to Ukraine does not deter local buyers — four "Model" quantitatively raised this brand to the second position. And the gradual decrease in their prices, accordingly, makes them even more affordable and mass-produced — so there is a fairly high probability that soon we will get a new leader among manufacturers in the domestic market.

Sales of electric Volkswagens — relatively inexpensive e-Golf and Chinese-made ID.4 crossovers — are also gaining volume.

1. Nissan — 479 pcs.
2. Tesla — 421 pcs.
3. Volkswagen — 261 pcs.
4. Renault — 97 pcs.
5. Hyundai — 84 pcs.
6. BMW — 60 pcs.
7. Mercedes-Benz — 57 pcs.
8. Audi — 55 pcs.
9. Honda — 52 pcs.
10. KIA — 39 pcs.
11. Chevrolet — 36 pcs.
12. Jaguar — 27 pcs.
13. Fiat — 18 pcs.
14. BYD — 16 pcs.
15. Toyota — 14 pcs.
16. Ford — 11 pcs.
17. Zeekr — 10 pcs.
18. Peugeot — 10 pcs.
19. Smart — 9 pcs.
20. Citroen — 9 pcs.

In the Top-20 individual models, the first place in the domestic market with a significant margin from the closest competitors (which will have to be observed for quite some time) is occupied by the Nissan Leaf. In February, 457 purchase and sale agreements were concluded.

On the second rung is the Tesla Model 3, for which 190 deals were concluded, on the third is the Volkswagen ID.4 (134 units), which moves up one rung every month.

Tesla Model Y is in fourth place, with a total of 114 resales, and Volkswagen e-Golf is fifth, with 94 buyers.

The most popular models of electric cars on the domestic market in February 2024:

1. Nissan Leaf — 457 pcs.
2. Tesla Model 3 — 190 pcs.
3. Volkswagen ID.4 — 134 pcs.
4. Tesla Model Y — 114 pcs.
5. Volkswagen e-Golf — 94 pcs.
6. Tesla Model S — 92 pcs.
7. Renault ZOE — 82 pcs.
8. BMW i3 — 48 pcs.
9. Hyundai Kona — 46 pcs.
10. Audi E-Tron — 43 pcs.
11. Mercedes-Benz B-Class — 34 pcs.
12. Hyundai Ioniq — 34 pcs.
13. Chevrolet Bolt EV — 34 pcs.
14. Kia Soul — 28 pcs.
15. Jaguar I-Pace — 27 pcs.
16. Honda M-NV — 26 pcs.
17. Tesla Model X — 25 pcs.
18. Honda e:NS1 — 24 pcs.
19. Volkswagen ID.6 — 18 pcs.
20. Fiat 500e — 18 pcs.

Electric cars — import of used ones

If Nissan leads the domestic market, which has actually been formed for more than 10 years, the import segment, which reacts to changes instantly, shows completely different results. Here the first place is for Tesla — 924 such cars were submitted for the first registration.

Nissan, which dominates the fleet and the secondary market, is second in this list with a total of 540 imported cars.

Volkswagen is in third place (422 units), and Hyundai is in fourth place (276 units). Rounding out the top five is Audi based on a total of 156 cars.

• View "freshly imported" electric cars from Europe in stock
• Order a turnkey electric car from Europe at West Auto Hub

The diagram shows how much less difference there is between the participants in the rating, in contrast to the domestic secondary market, where the top three are clearly defined.

1. Tesla — 924 pcs.
2. Nissan — 540 pcs.
3. Volkswagen — 422 pcs.
4. Hyundai — 276 pcs.
5. Audi — 156 pcs.
6. Renault — 138 pcs.
7. KIA — 107 pcs.
8. Chevrolet — 107 pcs.
9. Jaguar — 105 pcs.
10. BMW — 81 pcs.
11. Mercedes-Benz — 59 pcs.
12. Honda — 48 pcs.
13. BYD — 39 pcs.
14. Ford — 34 pcs.
15. Peugeot — 27 pcs.
16. Toyota — 23 pcs.
17. Opel — 21 pcs.
18. Citroen — 21 pcs.
19. Zeekr — 20 pcs.
20. Mitsubishi — 19 pcs.

Nissal Leaf (476 units) still holds the lead among "freshly driven" electric cars.

Tesla Model 3 remains in second place (405 units), the third step went to another Tesla product, the Model Y crossover (313 units). In fourth place is the Volkswagen e-Golf (223 units). Rounding out the top five is the Hyundai Kona (178 units).

The most popular models of used imported electric cars in February 2024:

1. Nissan Leaf — 476 pcs.
2. Tesla Model 3 — 405 pcs.
3. Tesla Model Y — 313 pcs.
4. Volkswagen e-Golf — 223 pcs.
5. Hyundai Kona — 178 pcs.
6. Volkswagen ID.4 — 157 pcs.
7. Tesla Model S — 152 pcs.
8. Audi e-tron — 124 pcs.
9. Renault ZOE — 111 pcs.
10. Jaguar I-Pace — 105 pcs.
11. Chevrolet Bolt EV — 96 pcs.
12. Hyundai Ioniq — 79 pcs.
13. Tesla Model X — 54 pcs.
14. Kia Niro — 48 pcs.
15. Kia Soul — 46 pcs.
16. Nissan Ariya — 45 pcs.
17. BMW i3 — 40 pcs.
18. Honda e:NS1 — 33 pcs.
19. Mercedes-Benz B-Class — 26 pcs.
20. Ford Mustang Mach-E — 22 pcs.

Electric cars — sales of new ones

The rating of manufacturers of new electric cars looks the most interesting, of course — from the point of view of analysts. Unit sales in the second half of the list indicate that this market is volatile and in its infancy. And it also indicates that official dealers are entering this segment very late, unlike multi-brand importers or even private "racers", who actually instantly create an offer in response to demand, if only the first requests appear.

In continuation of the topic about the inertia of "officials", it is worth mentioning the primacy of Volkswagen in this rating: 320 cars (which makes up almost a third of the market — 31.7%) were delivered by independent importers, instead, the official representative office of the brand in Ukraine decided to limit itself to a warning instead of cars. posted on its own website that cars relocated from China will not be serviced under warranty.

• By the way, some electric cars from China can be bought with a warranty — for example , the Maxus brand. The official dealer present in Ukraine is ready to support these cars for up to 5 years, and their batteries for up to 8 years!

Next on the list with similar results are BYD and Honda, with 166 and 161 electric cars, respectively.

The fourth and fifth places are for Nissan (94 units) and Audi (63 units).

1. Volkswagen — 320 pcs.
2. BYD — 166 pcs.
3. Honda — 161 pcs.
4. Nissan — 94 pcs.
5. Audi — 63 pcs.
6. Zeekr — 42 pcs.
7. Toyota — 38 pcs.
8. BMW — 28 pcs.
9. Volvo — 24 pcs.
10. Mercedes-Benz — 21 pcs.
11. MG — 18 pcs.
12. Tesla — 6 pcs.
13. Lexus — 4 pcs.
14. DongFeng — 4 pcs.
15. Jaguar — 3 pcs.
16. Weltmeister — 2 pcs.
17. Peugeot — 2 pcs.
18. Mini — 2 pcs.
19. Citroen — 2 pcs.
20. Cenntro — 2 pcs.

Among individual models, Volkswagen ID.4 (271 units) takes first place according to the results of February, with a clear quantitative advantage over all other participants in the rating. In the next second place, which received a crossover with a name similar to the index used to mark microcircuits, Honda e:NS1 (102 pcs.).

BYD Song Plus is in third position with a total of 98 new cars sold.

Probably quite promising (because every month it is higher and higher in the rating) crossover Nissan Ariya with a result of 90 pcs. The fifth is the Honda (actually DongFeng) M-NV crossover, for which there were 53 buyers,

The most popular new electric cars in February 2024:

1. Volkswagen ID.4 — 271 pcs.
2. Honda e:NS1 — 102 pcs.
3. BYD Song Plus — 98 pcs.
4. Nissan Ariya — 90 pcs.
5. Honda M-NV — 53 pcs.
6. Volkswagen ID.6 — 38 pcs.
7. Toyota bZ4X — 37 pcs.
8. Audi Q4 — 36 pcs.
9. Zeekr 001 — 33 pcs.
10. BYD Yuan Plus — 23 pcs.
11. Audi Q8 — 18 pcs.
12. Volvo XC40 — 13 pcs.
13. Mercedes-Benz EQE — 12 pcs.
14. BYD Seagull — 12 pcs.
15. MG 4 — 11 pcs.
16. BYD Tang — 11 pcs.
17. Volkswagen ID.3 — 10 pcs.
18. BMW X1 — 10 pcs.
19. Zeekr X — 9 pcs.
20. BYD E-2 — 9 pcs.

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