A month after General Motors announced it would only release quarterly sales results, the landscape for plug-in electric and hybrid cars appears to be little changed.
While we may not see a big swing in Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt sales, the green carmakers—like much of the industry—reported mixed sales figures. Industry analysts have expected that GM sales were largely stagnant in April, or have declined slightly.
Electrify America Level 2 chargers with Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf
Nissan reported 1,171 Leaf sales in April, down from 1,500 in March. The automaker reported larger drops in sales among most of its cars and SUVs for April, a result of slowing fleet sales and model changeovers.
BMW i3 sales dropped dramatically, to 503 down from 992 in March. A spokesman for BMW said that March was an especially good month with additional incentives from utilities, increased availability, and normal seasonal trends. April represented a return to normal.
DON'T MISS: 2018 BMW i3s first drive review: sportier and nearly as efficient
Toyota's Prius Prime had another popular month with shoppers. In April, Toyota delivered 2,626 Prius Primes, down from the prior month's 2,922 but April's total was still the second-best sales month for the model in a calendar year.
Both the Ford Fusion Energi and the Audi E-Tron continued their momentum from the start of the year. The Fusion sold 742 examples in April, and the E-Tron sold 189, neither far from March's pace or the beginning of the year.
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Catalina Island, CA, Sep 2017
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV dropped more than 20 percent from March, selling 273 models in April, though its sales were up in Canada.
The Honda Clarity PHEV continued its rollout with new shoppers, delivering 1,049 models in April, and modestly gaining steam since the car's debut late last year.
MUST READ: What's the best Porsche Panamera? It's a plug-in hybrid now
Porsche's twin plug-in hybrid billing—the Cayenne S E-Hybrid and Panamera S E-Hybrid—took off, largely due to increased availability at dealers.
Volvo's plug-in powertrains in its S90, XC90, and XC60 nudged down slightly lower for April. The XC60 T8 led the way with 141 deliveries for the month.
Mercedes-Benz did not report sales for its hybrids. Sales for the Smart Fortwo electric drive rose slightly, to 93, from February, its last reported sales month.
EDITOR'S NOTE: As of May 2017, this monthly report covers only plug-in electric cars with sales of 100 units a month or more—with occasional exceptions for new models, exceptionally large changes in sales volume, or other newsworthy events.
