Mitsubishi’s PHEV dominates in Europe, NZ

In New Zealand, the Mitsubishi Outlander dominates PHEV sales. Photo: Mitsubishi Motors

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has regained the top spot in the European plug-in hybrid sales charts with registrations across Europe from January to the end of October 2020 topping 22,262 over 1000 units ahead of its nearest rival.

And it’s a similar story in New Zealand, with the Outlander PHEV recording 404 registrations year to date, smashing its nearest rival, the Toyota Prius at 54 sales.

Mitsubishi Motors NZ also currently has a special deal for the PHEV, with a price of $52,490 for the SUV that does 55km on pure electric.

With competition heating up and demand from PHEVS across Europe growing, the Outlander’s reputation for reliability and efficiency still holds sway in the segment it effectively established since it launched the first generation Outlander PHEV in 2014.

In the UK, sales of PHEVs have now topped 58,000 so far in 2020 with Outlander topping the SUV PHEV charts and still on the podium across all plug-in hybrid competitors, with 3294  sales.

The popularity of PHEVs is growing with the UK government accepting that they will continue to have a role to play in the decarbonisation of transport beyond the 2030 internal combustion engine (ICE) end of sale deadline.

Recent studies carried out on behalf of Mitsubishi Motors in the UK have indicated that 92 per cent charge their PHEVs multiple times per week and spend almost three quarters (72 per cent) of their commutes and 85 per cent of their errand and school runs driving in EV mode. 

Just as importantly, PHEVs are also accelerating an attitudinal shift for the future with 70 per cent of PHEV owners now considering a fully electric vehicle for the next purchase compared to just 27 per cent of ICE drivers.