The Tesla Model Y Shines In Singapore — After Becoming 4th Best Selling Vehicle In The World
Daren Yoong gives regular updates on the EV scene in Singapore, Malaysia, and other markets in the region on his YouTube channel as well as other forms of social media. In his latest update, Daren highlights the Model Y’s continued dominance in the Singapore market.
In the overall market, Tesla was the 8th top selling brand in Singapore in February 2023. In total, 63 Teslas were registered in Singapore last month, behind Toyota with 414 units, Mercedes-Benz with 311 units, BMW with 269 units, Honda with 245 units, Nissan with 136 units, Hyundai with 81 units, and Mazda with 76 units. More Teslas were sold overall than Kias and Audis in February. One starts to wonder if supply of Teslas was bumped up in Singapore, where the brand would sit? Probably above Mazda, Hyundai, and Nissan very soon.
Cars are really expensive in Singapore compared to most countries. An article by Timothy Ho published in April last year explains why. A lot of it has to do with trying to control the car population in Singapore. It’s no wonder a recent Model Y index showed that Singapore tops the most expensive Model Y list. The index looked at 42 countries and found that Singapore offered the most expensive Model Y in the world, costing as much as S$142,471 (USD$103,800) — rising to over $180,000 after levies for some, as reported here on CleanTechnica. However, the Model Y continues to shine in Singapore’s BEV sales charts.
Tesla sits at number one in the BEV sales charts, ahead of BMW with 51 units and BYD with 37 units. Of the 63 Teslas registered in February 2023, 46 were Model Ys and 17 were Model 3s. In the 6 months since its launch in the Singapore market, the Model Y has made up 84% of all Tesla registrations in the country.
Tesla has big targets for the Model Y on a global scale. Elon Musk has said several times that he believes the Model Y will be the top selling vehicle worldwide overall very soon — not just the top selling BEV. Last year, the Model Y did vey well, finishing the year in 4th place overall. The Toyota Corolla was the top selling vehicle worldwide with over 1.1 million units sold, the Toyota RAV4 was in second place with over 870,000 units, followed by the Ford F-Series with over 780,000 units, and then the Model Y in 4th with over 750,000 units. A BEV in the top 4 of the overall sales market is pretty cool, especially the Model Y, which hasn’t even been on the market for more than 4 years and is going up against models/brands with over 5 decades in the market. This is a really impressive showing.
The Singapore sales also show that Tesla’s vehicles will get decent sales in smaller auto markets, which is why I was excited to hear that Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has announced that it has approved Tesla’s application to import battery electric vehicles into Malaysia. MITI says Tesla will now proceed to establish:
- An Office
- Tesla Experience and Service Centres
- A Supercharger Network
Hopefully, Tesla ramps up plans to offer its vehicles in similar markets. I am hoping in the near future places like Morocco, South Africa, and perhaps Kenya could be added to the list.
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