Japan – 1st Quarter 2015

Plug in vehicle sales continue to be weak. January and February 2015 were significantly below 2014 and March was just on par. The combined first quarter volume was 7734 units, which is 1985 units, or 20 % units lower then Q1 of 2014. Share of passenger cars was just 0,58 %, falling back to the level of the 2012 calendar year (sic!). Partly responsible was a depressed overall passenger car market, which was 15 % lower for Q1-2015, compared to the 1st quarter of 2014. Electrically chargeable vehicles continue to loose market share in Japan, a trend that started in Q4 of 2014.