The Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years; the Chevy Volt won the Canadian electric-car sales trophy for the seventh time in seven months.
Though Chevy Volt sales in Canada fell from stratospheric to mere tropospheric levels in October, the vehicle remains Canada’s monthly sales leader for the seventh consecutive month, by a large margin.
The 337 Volts sold in October were down about one-quarter from September’s 446, but give the Volt the fourth best-selling month for a plug-in electric vehicle in Canada, trailing its own levels in July (385 units) and August (421 units) as well as September.
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With about 2,900 Volts sold and two months left in the year, Chevy may be able to sell more Volts this year than the entire Canadian plug-in electric vehicle market numbered in 2013, which was about 3,180 units.
Nissan sold 132 Leafs in October, down about a tenth from the 146 sold in September. Canadian auto sales generally begin their year-end slowdown in October, and this year was no different, with October sales down about 10 percent from September levels.
In other words, the decline in Leaf sales was consistent with the overall market. This was also the Leaf’s seventh consecutive month of 100-plus sales, matching its seven-month streak from May to November 2014.
Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, October 2016
BMW i-series (i3 and i8) sales in October were 37, Mitsubishi sold 5 more i-MiEVs, and Cadillac worked through 3 more units of ELR inventory.
Once more, Ford refuses to provide C-Max Energi and Ford Fusion Energi sales. 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.”
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Inquiries with Hyundai about Sonata plug-in hybrid sales have proven unsuccessful as well, though based on Quebec rebate data from AVEQ.ca, Canadian sales are believed to be in the 20 to 30 range.
Prior-month registration roundup
We estimate there were 1,284 Canadian plug-in electric vehicle sales in September, representing a market share of 0.74 percent. Both figures are new records, topping June’s 1,103 sales and August’s 0.64 percent.
2016 Tesla Model X
Characteristically strong end-of-quarter sales from Tesla contributed substantially, as the company sold 187 Model Ses and 238 Model Xes, for a monthly total of 425 vehicles.
The two Teslas and the Volt together represented two-thirds of September’s plug-in electric vehicle sales in Canada.
Through September, Tesla’s Canadian sales have increased about 18 percent this year, with sales since the Model X’s debut up about 47 percent.
CHECK OUT: Canadian Plug-in Electric Vehicle Study: 1 Percent To 30 Percent Is The Challenge
The latter is still below the company’s guidance to increase sales by roughly 60 percent this year, so other countries will need to make up the difference.
In September, BMW sold 21 i3s and 7 i8s, supplemented by 28 X5 and 8 330e plug-in hybrids. Their 64 plug-in electric vehicle sales slightly topped the 44 from Volkswagen’s luxury brands, split between 26 Porsche Cayenne and 7 Panamera plug-in hybrids and 11 Audi A3 e-trons. Sino-Swedish competitor Volvo sold 41 XC90 plug-in hybrid SUVs.
Moving to broader market vehicles, Kia sold 50 Soul EVs in September, its seventh consecutive month at or above that level, and may be able to reach the 1,000 vehicle mark by year’s end.
Ford sold 14 Focus Electrics and Chevrolet sold 6 Spark EVs.
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