Jeep has sharply increased sales of full-electric versions of the Avenger small SUV in recent months, even as the share of EVs in the segment -- Europe’s largest -- has stalled at less than 6 percent.
In August, 58 percent of the Avengers registered had a full-electric drivetrain, or 2,152 units, according to figures from Dataforce. In June, the figure was 35 percent and in July 37 percent. In the first five months of the year, there were 962 electric Avengers sold in total.
Jeep said Tuesday that 42 percent of the 40,000 orders for the Avenger since it was launched at the 2022 Paris auto show last October are full electric. Of the 18,487 Avengers registered in Europe from January through August, 31 percent are full electric.
For the segment as a whole, full-electric versions accounted for just 5.7 percent of sales in that period, marginally ahead of the same period in 2022, when the EV share was 5.6 percent, figures from Dataforce show. The segment, which is Europe’s largest, grew by 15 percent overall to 1.36 million sales, Dataforce said.
“Small electric SUV sales are very sensitive to incentives,” Jeep Enlarged Europe head Eric Laforge told Automotive News Europe.
Germany, which has the largest number of EV sales in Europe, and some Nordic countries have cut back on benefits for electric models this year, with Germany’s main EV incentive falling to 4,500 euros from 6,000 euros.