Canada’s first three Chevrolet Bolt EVs were registered in October, no doubt for media test-drives and dealership training ahead of the 238-mile electric car’s Canadian launch.
That event is expected to take place early next year, but with photos of truckloads of Bolt EVs headed for U.S. dealers, their counterparts north of the border will clearly want in on the action too.
Among currently available plug-in electric vehicles, the Chevy Volt continued its dominance of the Canadian market, running up 316 sales, down slightly from October’s 337.
DON’T MISS: U.S. plug-in electric car sales surge in Nov: Volt soars, Prius Prime arrives
A dip in November is normally to be expected, as the Canadian auto market generally slows towards the year-end, but for the first time since 2006, Canada’s auto dealerships were busier than in the month of October.
The Volt’s Canadian sales in November were the population-adjusted equivalent of about 2,900 sales in America, modestly higher than the 2,531 sales GM reported in the United States. The comparison becomes even more favorable when adjusting for the brands’ market share.
As noted by GoodCarBadCar.net, Chevrolet’s market share in Canada is only two-thirds as large as its market share in the United States (7.7 percent vs. 11.9 percent).
Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, November 2016
Normalizing for population and market share, November’s Volt sales in Canada would be the equivalent of a spectacular 4500 sales in the United States
Nissan sold 83 Leafs in November, down substantially from 132 in October. This was still enough to push this year’s Leaf sales to 1,300, surpassing the 1,233 sold last year. Canadian Leaf sales have now increased for five consecutive years.
BMW i-series (i3 and i8) sales in November were 59—their highest since April—though the exact split won’t be known until vehicle registration data arrives. Newly Nissan-controlled Mitsubishi also added 6 more i-MiEVs to Canadian roads.
ALSO SEE: Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, October 2016: Volt’s seven-peat
As usual, Ford refuses to provide C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi sales data. As conveyed by a Ford representative: “I have looked into this and unfortunately we are not inclined to provide this level of detail for Canada. The numbers are very small, as you might imagine.”
October registration roundup
Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales in the previous month, October, just barely broke the four-digit barrier for the fifth straight month, at 1,002. That brings cumulative sales through October to slightly less than 27,000.
Even allowing for softer sales in December, Canada’s 30,000th electric vehicle seems likely to arrive in January or February next year.
Bourgeois Chevrolet, Rawdon, Quebec, Canada [photo: RoulezElectrique.com]
Depending on the strength of Chevy Bolt sales (Quebec’s Bourgeois Chevrolet reports 250-plus deposits) the country could each 35,000 plug-ins by the time of its sesquicentennial (150th birthday) on July 1, 2017.
October saw 76 Tesla Model Ses and 137 Tesla Model Xes rolling onto Canadian roads, the third time in four months the Model X has outsold the Model S in the country by 30 or more vehicles.
At 213 units, Tesla’s overall sales are essentially even with July and August, in which the company sold 218 and 216 vehicles, respectively. (As a quarter-ending month in which Tesla focused on North American deliveries, September’s 425 sales far outpaced October’s.)
CHECK OUT: Quebec passes Canada’s first zero-emission vehicle rule, to start in 2018
October saw Kia sell 72 Soul EVs, up strongly from the 50 sold in September and almost equaling its best-ever 76 in August.
Ford sold 10 Focus Electrics, and Chevrolet moved 3 Sparks. Volvo sold another 45 XC90 plug-in hybrid SUVs, in line with its six-month average of 48 a month.
Among the German Big Three, BMW sold 29 i3s, 9 i8s, 18 X5 40es and 10 330es. One 740e plug-in hybrid was also registered, again in all likelihood for test drives and dealer training before that vehicle’s anticipated Canadian launch.
The Volkswagen stable contributed 47 Porsche Cayenne and 2 Porsche Panamera plug-in hybrids, complemented by 16 Audi A3 e-trons. For its part, Mercedes sold one S550e plug-in hybrid sedan.
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