Tesla Model Y Going To Be Top Selling Vehicle In The World In 2023

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The numbers are not yet in, but it’s close enough. The Tesla Model Y was the top selling vehicle model in the world in the first quarter of 2023, in the second quarter of 2023, and in the third quarter of 2023. With Tesla’s best quarter by far always being the fourth quarter, and an expected 328,000 Model Y deliveries in the quarter, I think we can say with certainty that the Tesla Model Y will be the best selling vehicle model in the world this year.

According to Tesla numbers tracker and analyst Troy Teslike, “Toyota Corolla will likely do around 1,080,000 units this year and Model Y around 1,220,000. So, 140,000 units or 13% higher.” That’s a significant gap, and the buffer in expectations is surely large enough by now that the result is clear. The Tesla Model Y — a fully electric car — will be the best selling car in the world across an entire calendar year. Congratulations to Tesla on this truly major milestone!

“Model Y is expected to be the world’s best-selling car this year with over 1.2 million sales. Unfortunately, this is under-reported in the media because Tesla doesn’t release Model Y sales numbers. I wish they would because Model Y is beating the Toyota Corolla,” Troy Teslike writes. And I fully agree. In fact, I used to push quite strongly for this — several years ago. I think I understood the reasoning for combining Model Y sales numbers with Model 3 sales numbers, but I believe it’s high time for a change. It is annoying and just looks bad that Tesla is unwilling to report model-specific numbers. Additionally, as Troy Teslike points out, there are plenty of cases now where something like the Model Y being the top selling vehicle in the world (quarter after quarter and for the year as a whole) goes massively underreported due to there being no official numbers. Tesla will likely put this highlight in its 4th quarter shareholder report, but who is going to pay attention and write a headline based on that? It’s a misunderstanding of the media and a missed opportunity to keep hiding these numbers.

Troy Teslike goes on: “Model Y was the best-selling car globally in Q1, Q2, and Q3 2023, but media coverage was limited without any official numbers from Tesla. I think people around Elon are too afraid to ask whether Tesla should report sales by model and region, as all other manufacturers do.” I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but I think it’s long past time for Tesla to join other major automakers and be more specific with model deliveries (and production).

I don’t want to take away from how impressive this milestone is, but there is one more matter to note. The Tesla Model Y sees so many sales in part because Tesla offers so few models. With just the Model 3 and Model Y as mass-market models, and the Model S and Model X as more expensive high-end options, if someone gets a Tesla, they are going to get logged under delivery numbers for one of those models — or, officially, for the combined total of two models! Other major automakers have their sales spread out across many more models. There’s long been a debate about which is the better course, and also about how the benefits of one approach versus the other might change as the company grows. In any case, though, it’s clear that if Tesla offered several models, the sales would be spread out more and the Model Y may not be the best selling vehicle in the world. One person, in response to Troy Teslike’s initial tweet about this, wrote: “Troy, it’s irrelevant. There’s no model breadth to the brand and BYD, VW and next year others will best Tesla on a brand basis for EV deliveries by a wide margin in their respective theaters.” Well, we will see what happens — in different core regions (the US, Europe, and China) and globally — but we will also see Tesla sales more spread out from the arrival of the Cybertruck (potentially at high volume by the end of the year) and perhaps from an announcement about a new, lower-cost Tesla model.

Whatever happens in 2024, though, Tesla deserves massive credit for achieving such a monumental title and breaking through against fossil-fueled vehicles in yet another major way. Congratulations to the whole team of 100,000+ employees across the world!

Featured photo by Zachary Shahan | CleanTechnica.