Earlier today, I highlighted the Tesla Model 3’s solid sales launch compared to the iconic Ford Mustang, which the Model 3 is outselling by ~1.5× this year so far. But the Mustang has never been seen as the car the Model 3 is really trying to retire — or at least humble a bit. That car is, of course, the BMW 3 Series (+ 4 Series).
This may have been the longest I’ve ever taken to create a monthly US sales report, and it may have also been the most difficult. We had a strong sense of how Tesla Model 3 production and deliveries were ramping up through the 3rd quarter, but due to the intense push to get Model 3s out the door and into customers’ hands by the end of the quarter, it has been hard to estimate output in subsequent weeks — much of October.
Tesla Model 3 sales growth this year has been astounding, putting to bed any sensible skepticism about Tesla’s ability to produce a high number of high-quality cars that consumers adore.
Klaus Froehlich, head of R&D at BMW, says 85% of its cars will have a gas or diesel engine in 2030. Is he prescient or clueless?
Over half a century ago, the auto industry fought against seat belts. Then, in the 1970s, they fought against smog regulations because of expensive catalytic converters. They also opposed other safety standards, like airbags. Today, legacy automakers cling to diesel and fight against reducing emissions. The latest target of their displeasure and dismay? Well, it’s obvious — they complain about a transition to electric vehicles.
Maybe this isn’t the right metaphor. Lightning and thunder are essentially the same things — just the light and sound manifestations of a certain phenomenon.
Nonetheless, in a sense, I guess you could say that the Model 3 and Model Y will be different forms of the same thing as well, right? Different vehicle forms using the same powertrain — or a very similar powertrain.
Tesla increased its deliveries by more than 100% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, its previous best quarter in history. In 6 years, its Q3 sales jumped from 321 to 83,500.
Its sales come at the expense of cars all over the map. However, the classes it is most directly competing in are the relevant luxury classes.
The Tesla Model 3 has now moved into the top sales ranks of all cars in the US, not just EVs, as CleanTechnica director and chief editor Zachary Shahan wrote recently in “Tesla Model 3 — 7th/8th Best Selling Car In USA — Is In A Class Of Its Own.”
This success and sales volume of the Model 3 in comparison to every other electric vehicle available in the US raises the question: What current or future model will be the next high-volume (“hit”) electric vehicle?
As Tesla Model 3 production and sales have grown, I’ve felt more and more inspired to compare the car’s scorecard against that of other models. I intended to update my “Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales” charts and report this weekend, but then got a bit carried away. As a result, below are 7 sales charts regarding the Tesla Model 3 and some of its wide ranging “competition,” which includes not only small and midsize luxury cars but also some of the most popular, mass-market cars in the United States.
It’s widely speculated that Tesla delayed US deliveries and shipped more cars abroad in the second quarter in order to not pass the 200,000 vehicle milestone that starts the US federal EV tax credit phaseout. Indeed, as Tesla told us recently, the 200,000 vehicle milestone was passed in July, not June.
