7:35 am, July 28, 2023
Tesla’s popularity in Europe shows no signs of easing after the Model Y was named as the continent’s most popular car in the first half of 2023.
New data from automotive analyst firm JATO Dynamics reveals that the Model Y significantly outsold its nearest rivals to be named the best-selling car to the end of June.
Figures show that a whopping 136,564 Model Ys were registered in the first six months of the year – a massive year-on-year rise of 204 per cent.
That placed it more than 13,000 units clear of the second placed Dacia Sandero (123,408) and almost 25,000 clear of the Volkswagen T-Roc in third (111,692).
The success for the Elon Musk-led outfit didn’t stop there, as its Model 3 was also the second most popular electric car, with 42,588 registrations.
The Model Y was the most popular car in several countries, including Denmark, The Netherlands and in Norway, where it accounted for almost a quarter of the country’s entire car sales.
It also meant Tesla significantly increased its European market share, with the firm’s EVs making up 2.82 per cent of the the 6.56m new cars sold in the region in the first half of 2023.
The results move the firm ahead of some of the most-established brands in the business, including Nissan, Volvo and Seat, despite having a far smaller line-up of models.
JATO says that the sharp increase in Tesla sales comes following the start of local production in Germany, increasing the availability of cars and price cuts.
When it came to the new wave of Chinese EV brands, JATO reported that outfits are ‘gaining traction less quickly [in Europe] than analysts anticipated’, despite MG seeing a significant boost over the period.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: ‘The dominating narrative at the moment is around the big potential of Chinese manufacturers in Europe. The potential is certainly there, but the volume of registrations is not currently reflecting that.
‘It is not easy to continuously grow in such a competitive market, particularly when the brand is unknown and the product needs time to become popular with consumers. The perception of cars by Chinese manufacturers in the West needs to shift in order to see growth.’
