Tesla takeover! Model Y electric car tops European sales charts, beating usual favourites
Much like its rocket up the sales charts in Australia in September, the Tesla Model Y has, for a month at least, become the most popular car in Europe.
The new data shows the Tesla electric car sold 29,367 units in September alone, making the Model Y the leader in sales by almost 10,000 units.
In second place the Peugeot 208 hatchback, which enjoys a far greater rate of sales in its home nation and surrounding countries than it ever did here, racked up 19,601 sales, although it remains the overall most popular car in 2022 with 161,329 units to the end of September.
To put things in perspective for the Tesla Model Y, so far in 2022 it’s only sold 82,463 vehicles, about half as many as the 208.
Still, much like Australia, the growth achieved by Tesla’s newest model is impressive, achieving similar sales to Euro favourites like the Skoda Octavia (84,707 so far in 2022) and the Volkswagen Polo (88,919 sales in 2022).
In terms of brands and their overall success in Europe so far this year, Tesla’s Model Y and its related Model 3 aren’t doing quite enough heavy lifting to bring the brand into the upper end of the sales ladder.
The EV brand’s 137,160 sales this year so far are no match for the likes of Euro giant Volkswagen, with 862,342 sales for the VW brand alone (VW Group has shifted 2,030,321 cars in 2022 so far), and the world’s largest car brand, Toyota (568,016).
In Australia, the Tesla Model Y was a strong performer in September, totalling 4359 sales and becoming the third best-selling vehicle for the month behind the ever-popular Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger utes.
Tesla is placed 16th for overall sales this year in Australia, behind Suzuki and GWM, but ahead of the likes of Honda, LDV and Audi. For September specifically, Tesla ranked sixth overall.
The reason for Tesla’s month-to-month success versus its slower sales increase through the year as a whole is down to Tesla’s delivery model, where customers receive cars in waves.
Tesla sold only 240 cars between April and July, though even in August the brand managed 3397 sales, its best month ever before September.
Tesla clearly has intentions on becoming the dominant force in electric cars for the foreseeable future, and not just in the premium space.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week reconfirmed plans to create a far more affordable electric car, which he said can be produced at half the cost of a Model 3 or Model Y, thanks to a new platform.
