Photo: bmw
The numbers for August are in and BMW’s first ever full EV vehicle did a great job in the US, outselling the most popular Tesla Models S by around 70%. Over the last month, BMW sold 1,025 i3s whereas Tesla sold only 600 cars, according to numbers compiled by InsideEVs.com.
Unfortunately, Tesla doesn’t release the sale numbers every month but once every quarter so the guys had to do an estimate. However, so far, they did a great job and were nearly dead on with their supposition. Hopefully, they nailed it this time too.
The numbers are not exactly shocking from BMW’s point of view. So far, the car’s been on sale for just 3 months and the range-extended models were not delivered because of a bureaucratic problem. Now, with all of them solved, things are expected to be picking up.
What’s most shocking is the drop in demand for Tesla’s products. In August alone, the demand went down 54% compared to last year. Furthermore, in July the numbers were even worse, with a drop of 72 percent. Going even further in our comparison, over the first half of 2014, the sales went down 26% compared to 2013.
Some might say that’s all due to the exports Tesla is making at the moment, in Europe and Asia but BMW is apparently beating the American manufacturer even over seas. In Norway, for example, Tesla demand has been high, the company selling 183 cars over there in August but the i3 was even more successful, selling 202 units.
We used Norway as an example because its sales are the only ones relevant when it comes to Teslas in Europe. Looking over other European countries, things are even more disappointing. For example, Holland holds number two in an ad-hoc ranking of best markets for Model S cars, with 70 cars sold, followed by Belgium with 26 and Austria with 9 cars.
What could this mean? As we said in an earlier article, the element of novelty in Tesla’s offering is fading out. They need to come out with something new, refreshing and, possibly, cheaper to purchase. The Model III could be a solution but we’ll have to wait and see how it comes out.
In the meantime, BMW’s i3 looks like a success already, with sales picking up in what they estimated to be their biggest market worldwide.
The numbers are not exactly shocking from BMW’s point of view. So far, the car’s been on sale for just 3 months and the range-extended models were not delivered because of a bureaucratic problem. Now, with all of them solved, things are expected to be picking up.
What’s most shocking is the drop in demand for Tesla’s products. In August alone, the demand went down 54% compared to last year. Furthermore, in July the numbers were even worse, with a drop of 72 percent. Going even further in our comparison, over the first half of 2014, the sales went down 26% compared to 2013.
Some might say that’s all due to the exports Tesla is making at the moment, in Europe and Asia but BMW is apparently beating the American manufacturer even over seas. In Norway, for example, Tesla demand has been high, the company selling 183 cars over there in August but the i3 was even more successful, selling 202 units.
We used Norway as an example because its sales are the only ones relevant when it comes to Teslas in Europe. Looking over other European countries, things are even more disappointing. For example, Holland holds number two in an ad-hoc ranking of best markets for Model S cars, with 70 cars sold, followed by Belgium with 26 and Austria with 9 cars.
What could this mean? As we said in an earlier article, the element of novelty in Tesla’s offering is fading out. They need to come out with something new, refreshing and, possibly, cheaper to purchase. The Model III could be a solution but we’ll have to wait and see how it comes out.
In the meantime, BMW’s i3 looks like a success already, with sales picking up in what they estimated to be their biggest market worldwide.
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