Symbol of an ongoing revolution, Tesla’s Model Y ranks at the top of the ranking of the world’s best-selling cars in 2023 with 1.23 million units.
Opponents of the electric car will certainly be attacked, but Tesla has achieved a new feat. After causing panic in Europe in recent months, the Tesla Model Y has become the best-selling vehicle in the world. With 1.23 million units of Tesla’s vehicle sold, the Model Y is at the top, ahead of thermal and hybrid vehicles used to dominating the global sales rankings, notably those of the Toyota brand.
The figures released this January 25, 2024 by Jato (companies specializing in automotive market data) are still only preliminary data. Consolidated data for December 2023 is missing for some smaller markets, but the largest automotive markets have been included. The Tesla Model Y’s lead is comfortable enough that the ranking is not disrupted.
Toyota has topped the best-selling car rankings for almost 10 years
Whether with the Toyota Corolla or the RAV4, the Japanese manufacturer reigned supreme at the top of the world rankings for around ten years. Exceptional longevity in a particularly competitive global automotive market. Few brands can boast of having been able to conquer the hearts of so many foreign markets.
Moreover, according to the Jato ranking, the two flagship models of the Japanese manufacturer continue to be positioned in 2nd and 3rd place on the podium of the best-selling models in the world. Toyota is not completely knocked down, but that should be enough to worry the Japanese group.
Akio Toyoda, former president of the Toyota group, has always been particularly critical of electric cars. This is a subject that the brand has never really given importance to, but Tesla’s success could well make it react. His successor at the head of the company, Koji Sato, must now work hard to ensure that Toyota and Lexus present competitive electric cars.
For the moment, the group is not yet up to par with competitors on this technology, but Toyota promises major innovations on the next generation of models planned for 2026. However, the Japanese brand continues to develop all available technologies: thermal, hybrid, rechargeable hybrid, hydrogen, e-fuel…
Tesla had already created a surprise, but this is the Holy Grail
With the Tesla Model 3, the American brand had already managed to appear in the Top 10 best-selling models in 2021. It was already a first shock for those who still doubted that electric vehicles could work internationally.
That same year, the Model Y also made a more discreet entry into the world Top 20. Then, in 2022, he placed on the podium in 3rd position. With 747,500 units sold (+91% compared to the previous year), the Model Y was then behind the Toyota RAV4 (1.01 million vehicles) and the Corolla (991,600 units).
The volumes of both Toyota models increased significantly in 2023, but not enough to counter the Model Y’s overwhelm.
In the Q4 2023 results conference on January 24, Elon Musk was a little ironic about the situation by commenting on the price gap compared to this type of model: “ Corolla, Honda Civic, etc. They are much cheaper than ours. People therefore have to put their hands in their wallets to be able to afford a Tesla. This is quite difficult for customers, and it is remarkable that it is the best-selling car by unit volume, despite being much more expensive than other high-volume cars. »
Imagine what this could look like in the future with a more affordable Tesla in the catalog, based on the “revolutionary” next-gen platform?
If you liked this article, you will like the following: don’t miss them by subscribing to Numerama on Google News.