The Tesla Model Y has become the first EV to be crowned the world’s best-selling car after selling more than 1.2 million units worldwide in 2023.
The American crossover dethroned the Toyota RAV4 and limited it to second place, despite sales increasing to 1.07 million in 2023. Its brother Toyota Corolla came third with 1.01 million.
“Today, the best-selling vehicle in the world is an electric car,” Tesla said during its fourth-quarter earnings call.
The Model Y led sales in both Europe and China, the world’s two biggest electric car markets, thanks in part to Tesla cutting prices in all its markets by as much as £8,000 last January.
This cost the Model Y 18% and 23% lower than the average cost of an electric car in Germany and the US respectively, data company Jato Dynamics has revealed.
“The price reductions over the year, combined with Tesla’s reputation as a reliable and competitive EV manufacturer, helped to drive already high demand,” said global analyst Felipe Munoz. “As a result, Tesla is the focus of many consumers looking to purchase an electric car.”
In total, more than 456,000 Model Ys were sold in China in 2023 (up 45% from 2022) and more than 255,000 in Europe (19,000 more than the second-placed Dacia Sandero), where the Model Y sold every month, except in October, topped the bestseller list. .
It accounted for two out of three Tesla deliveries in 2023.
Munoz labeled this increase in global sales as “unprecedented,” adding, “What Tesla has been able to accomplish in such a short time with the Model Y is simply remarkable.”
To meet demand, Tesla expanded production at its Berlin factory – where it exclusively makes the Model Y – to 375,000 units.
Production also grew at the Shanghai factory, where nearly a million Model Y and Tesla Model 3 sedans rolled off the production lines.
While Tesla will look to continue this sales push, production in Europe will be affected from next week as shipping problems in the Red Sea (caused by boat attacks by the Houthi militia) will force the company to suspend “most” work in Germany between January 29 to suspend. and February 11.