News: CA/China EV Sales Tell Tesla Story

Strong Model 3 Sales Lead, But Others Lag

Two recent electric vehicle sales reports tell a similar tale—the Tesla Model 3 is dominating the market worldwide and in its home market of California, and other models and manufacturers have a lot of catching up to make it a competitive situation.

One of the sources providing the numbers are our colleagues at EV Sales Blog. They scour the world to come up with accurate sales numbers for every vehicle with a plug. They took a long look at the 2019 calendar year and came up with this ranking for auto companies EV and PHEV sales worldwide along with their sales numbers and percent of the global market:

1. Tesla                      367,849 (17 percent share)
2. *BYD                     225,757 (10 percent)
3. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance  183,299 (8 percent)
4. *BAIC                    163,838 (7 percent)
5. BMW Group       140,604 (7 percent)
6. Volkswagen Group  140,604 (6 percent)
7. *SAIC                    137,666 (6 percent)
8. Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai-Kia)  126,436 (6 percent)
9. *Geely Group   121,802 (6 percent)
10. Toyota Group    55,155 (2 percent)

A few notes about this group needs to be made.

• Tesla’s “world domination” was done with only three models on sale and the Model 3 was the Dominator, outselling the next model by almost three-to-one. We could see why.
• The vast majority of sales worldwide are in China (four companies are Chinese companies with almost exclusive domestic sales).
• Strong models in multiple markets work wonders for the numbers—Tesla Model 3, of course, but also the Nissan Leaf-Renault Zoe-Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV are behind the Alliance’s strong numbers.
• Germans are a solid and growing EV presence. BMW and VW are here, but Mercedes is just launching its first of several vehicles. The VW ID. 3 could be a breakout vehicle along the lines of the Model 3 and catapult Volkswagen up the sales ladder. (Also note how close some of these ranking are). Of course, so far VW’s said it is not coming to the American market.
• None of these folks are letting up on the accelerator and all have a substantial dedication to electrification.
• Note who’s not there—the three top U.S. companies, General Motors, Ford and FCA, as well as European giants Daimler and PSA.
• Worldwide, the best-selling cars that are also available in the U.S. are, in order, the Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf, BMW 530, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Hyundai Kona, BMW i3, Toyota Prius Prime, Tesla Model X, Volkswagen e-Golf and Tesla Model S.

The California Market

In the top EV market in the U.S.—California—a similar story played out in the first quarter of 2020. Even as the pandemic hit and shut down production and most sales, according to statistics from the New Car Dealers Association, the Tesla Model 3 was not only the best-selling EV, but the best-selling car in the state. The Model 3 topped the perennial leaders—the Honda Civic and Accord and Toyota Corolla and Camry.

Tesla’s Model S also placed well in its category—luxury and high-end sports cars—behind the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class in a fairly tight group. The Model S has a 11.7 percent share of its market segment.

The final member of the Tesla triumvirate, the Model X SUV, was also third in its segment—luxury midsize SUV. It was behind the Lexus RX and Mercedes GLE, both models with significantly lower starting prices. The Model X has a 10.3 percent share of its market segment.

Tesla’s three models (Model Y sales were just started and weren’t a factor in the first quarter) gave the automaker a 4.6 percent share of the total California market. It sold 23,250 units in the first quarter, significantly less than Toyota’s full-line sales of 86,057.  

However, as the sales environment returns to a semblance of normality, Tesla will not only be selling its newest model, but other competitors have begun to make inroads. Domestic Chinese models have a strong appeal in that market and European-based auto companies are steadily rolling out their new EVs. Recent sales in Norway, the bell weather of EV sales in Europe, showed all Tesla models trailing much of the competition. The new Audi E-Tron EV had a great month, outselling all three Tesla models with its one SUV.