The Tesla Model Y has change into the primary EV to be topped the world’s best-selling automotive, after greater than 1.2 million examples had been offered worldwide in 2023.
The American crossover dethroned the Toyota RAV4, confining it to second place regardless of an increase in gross sales to 1.07 million in 2023. Its Toyota Corolla sibling positioned third with 1.01m.
“Today the best-selling vehicle on the planet is an EV,” Tesla stated throughout its fourth-quarter earnings name.
The Model Y led gross sales in each Europe and China, the world’s two largest electric car markets – partly due to Tesla slashing costs by as a lot as £8000 final January throughout all of its markets.
This priced the Model Y 18% and 23% decrease than the typical value of an EV in Germany and the US respectively, knowledge agency Jato Dynamics has revealed.
“The price cuts over the course of the year, combined with Tesla’s reputation as a reliable and competitive EV manufacturer, helped to fuel already high demand,” stated its world analyst, Felipe Munoz. “As a result, Tesla is front of mind for many consumers looking to purchase an EV.”
Overall, greater than 456,000 Model Ys had been offered in China in 2023 (a forty five% rise on 2022) and greater than 255,000 in Europe (19,000 greater than second-placed Dacia Sandero), the place it led the best-sellers listing each month bar October.
It accounted for 2 in each three Tesla deliveries in 2023.
Munoz labelled this rise in world gross sales as “unprecedented”, including: “What Tesla has been able to achieve with the Model Y in such a short space of time is simply remarkable.”
To match demand, Tesla expanded manufacturing at its Berlin plant – the place it solely makes the Model Y – to 375,000.
Production additionally grew at its Shanghai manufacturing facility, with nearly one million Model Ys and Tesla Model 3 saloons rolling off manufacturing traces.
Although Tesla will look to proceed this gross sales push, production in Europe will be impacted from next week, with transport points within the Red Sea (brought on by boat assaults by the Houthi militia) forcing it to droop “most” work in Germany between 29 January and 11 February.