More than 17,000 new electrified vehicles found homes in Europe last month. A total of 1,656 of them were BMW i3s, making BMW's electric car, including the basic electric vehicle (BEV) and the Range Extender (REx) versions, the best-selling electric vehicle in Europe for October. BMW's i3 sales represented a 51% increase over October 2015 numbers.
Norway led in i3 deliveries, taking 503 units, all of them being the i3 BEV. Germany was second with 274 i3 BEVs and 117 i3 REx’s sold. Austria had the third most i3 sales with 164 units, 11 of which were REx models.
BMW's upgraded i3 gets the credit for taking over the top spot. The new 33 kWh vehicles that were added this summer improved the normal electric-only range from about 80 miles to 114 miles, helping to reduce range anxiety.
In year-to-date figures, the BMW i3 with 10,934 total sales moved into 4th place in Europe, jumping ahead of the Tesla Model S for the first time. Tesla has sold 10,410 Model S cars so far this year. The leader for the year so far is the Renault Zoe, a small five-door model only slightly larger than the Renault Clio. Renaults are not sold in the U.S.
Other electrified BMWs are climbing the ladder. So far this year, the BMW 330e sold 6,307 units while the X5 xDrive 40e was next at 4,145. The 225xe Active Tourer had 4,083 deliveries and 1,290 new BMW i8 owners drove away in style. The BMW 740e, while only introduced four months ago, has already sold 492 units in Europe this year.
If it stays on its current pace, BMW may take the overall plug-in vehicle sales championship in Europe. BMW's October sales numbers pushed it ahead of Volkswagen, 26,759 to 25,992. With worldwide sales of plug-in vehicles nearing 600,000 for 2016, The 169,514 plug-ins sold to date in Europe is a healthy chunk of the nearly 600,000 sold worldwide so far in 2016. To be in the lead on its home continent has to be a bright spot for BMW in a year when it will lose both the U.S. and global premium vehicle sales crowns.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
