According to data from Jato Dynamics cited by Autocar, the entry-level crossover model from American electric car manufacturer Tesla, the Model Y, was the best-selling vehicle globally in 2023.
In addition to winning the most prestigious title in the sales arena, Tesla’s most successful product, the Model Y, concluded the previous year as the best-selling vehicle in China and Europe.
That’s high regard for a vehicle produced by a company that was established barely twenty years ago and went into production four years ago. The Toyota RAV4 crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle globally in 2022, came in second place last year, followed by the Toyota Corolla hatchback, which came in third.
In contrast to the Model Y, Toyota has nearly ninety years of automotive industry expertise, and both the RAV4 and Corolla nameplates date back at least thirty years.
Over 1.2 million pieces of Tesla’s electric crossover were sold globally last year, with Model Ys accounting for two out of every three Tesla-branded passenger cars produced in 2023. During the same period, sales of the Corolla reached 1.01 million units, while sales of the Toyota RAV4 reached 1.07 million units.
As Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics, stated for Autocar, “one of the main drivers for the success of the American battery-powered crossover was the repeated price cuts applied by Tesla during the previous 12 months, combined with the company’s reputation as a reliable and competitive EV maker.”
More than 456,000 Model Ys were sold in China in 2023—a 45% rise from 2022. Over 255,000 Model Ys were sold in Europe last year, surpassing the sales of the Dacia Sandero, which came in second, by more than 19,000 vehicles.
Globally, Tesla shipped 1.8 million vehicles last year, with the Model 3/Model Y pair accounting for the majority with 1.77 million of those deliveries.
