, we turn west, to its Iberian neighbor, Portugal, for a new EV sales report. As a Southern European market with low purchase power, one would think that this would be another market lingering in the back of the peloton, struggling to reach double digits.
Compared to Spain, whose plugin vehicle market is currently at around 11% share of the overall market, and especially compared to Italy, which is still lingering at around 6% share, Portugal is indeed one step ahead. Although, looking closer at the numbers, there is a more nuanced picture…. As such, the Tesla Model 3 is in the lead in both the May and YTD rankings, almost tripling the sales of the Tesla Model Y, with this being one of the interesting quirks of the Portuguese market — as it is one of the only markets in Western Europe less affected by the. Add that to the fact that the Model 3 recently had a refresh and you have the recipe for the Model 3 beating the Model Y.
The Audi A3 PHEV is just the most extreme example, as there are more cases in May’s ranking of the same logic: The #19 Kia Sportage PHEV and #20 Toyota RAV4 PHEV broke their personal records in May, with 82 and 81 registrations respectively, after rather discreet careers this year. The Audi Q4 e-tron, #15 with 88 deliveries, had its best result in a year.
The reason for this is likely the addition of generous company car subsidies as well as the popularity of sedans in Portugal., in the light of the recent developments regarding tariffs, the current advance of the Tesla Model 3 should be enough to keep it in the lead, but the second position could be up for grabs if the Tesla Model Y continues on its downwards spiral.
In 4th we have Volvo, with 8.3% share, with much of it based on the EX30’s sales. Peugeot is in 5th, with 6.4% share, with the French brand comfortably ahead of #6 Audi , but also distant from #4 Volvo., we have a close race for #1, with Mercedes Group , Tesla . and Stellantis competing for the top spot, but with #4 Volkswagen Group and #5 BMW Group not that far behind. This is probably one of the more open races for gold in the OEM category anywhere in the world.