Tesla Model 3 = 10th Best Selling Vehicle In Sweden … In July!

The Tesla Model 3 is no stranger to breaking records, and even taking home the #1 vehicle position in some European countries in certain months, but that has historically just occurred in the third month of big quarters. The first and second months of the quarter are usually super weak for Tesla in Europe.

News out of Sweden, though, is that the Model 3 broke into the top 10 of all vehicles (in the #10 slot) in July, the first month of this quarter. That’s a high ranking for the first month of a quarter.

There are two possible explanations for this relatively high ranking. One is that the car is so popular and supply is decent enough that the Model 3 is even doing well in some markets in “off months.” The other possibility is that Tesla is doing exactly what CEO Elon Musk said they’d be trying to do this year — unwinding the wave of vehicle deliveries across the world. In other words, Tesla’s working to have a steadier, less dramatic delivery pattern. Instead of having something like 90% of deliveries happen in the third month of the quarter, Tesla may deliver 30% in the first month, 30% in the second month, and 40% in the third month. (These figures are just examples, not necessarily what Tesla is doing.)

We don’t really know at this point how much the strong month is due to rising demand and supply versus a smoothened out delivery pattern, but we should get more insight from Elon on the next Tesla conference call for shareholders. This seems to be a regular topic of discussion on quarterly calls now.

Even in the “worse” of the two cases, a regular position in the top 10 of a country’s auto sales is a laudable achievement. The Model 3 was the 9th best selling car in the US in the second quarter, somewhat of a stunning result when you reflect on the company’s age and the car’s class, but the Swedish ranking is for all consumer vehicle types and classes, not just cars.

Will the Model 3 stay steady around this #10 position in Sweden? Or will it blow past #10 and soar higher, perhaps even to #1 by the end of the quarter? Or, of course, the Model 3 could drop in the sales ranking. Place your bets today if you want to say “I told you so” at the beginning of October.