Tesla's Model 3 was Europe's most popular vehicle last month, despite having a three percent drop in sales from what it achieved in March 2021. The minor drop, when compared to 2021, is a 50 percent increase from 2020, but it does not matter that much anymore, as it grabbed the top spot both for EVs and regular vehicles as well. In fact, PHEVs and BEVs have beaten diesels in Europe when market share is concerned.
Yes, you read that right, and we did not make any mistake while running the numbers, as Tesla's Model 3 outsold popular cars like the Volkswagen Golf, as well as affordable vehicles such as the Dacia Sandero, as figures from JATO Dynamics show. Furthermore, the Tesla Model Y got third place in this category, with 18,968 units sold in March 2022.
As a reference, the Volkswagen Golf was regularly the best-selling model in Europe, and it rarely dropped in sales charts, at least in recent years. Usually, the Golf was beaten by affordable hatchbacks, such as the Ford Fiesta, on the overall European market.
In March 2022, the Fiesta isn't even in the top 10 overall, but the Model 3 managed to get more sales than the Ford Puma (the Fiesta's crossover equivalent) and the VW Golf combined.
It appears that Tesla has managed to put pressure on the European manufacturers. If the American brand manages to keep things going at this rate moving forward, its factory in Berlin might speed up delivery times, and all that they have to do is to improve their line-up going forward.
Another interesting aspect that we have noticed while looking at the chart is that four out of the ten best-selling vehicles in Europe in March 2022 were made by the Stellantis Group, while two were made by Tesla.
Photo: Jato Dynamics
Where BEVs are concerned, Tesla has the same two models in the line, but Stellantis only manages to have two EVs to top the sales charts in the corresponding categories. Dacia's Sandero is the most affordable car out of the entire top ten, with the Spring being the most affordable EV offered on the continent, but European customers were not looking at their wallets when getting new vehicles in March.
The Model Y also got to be Europe's second-most-popular EV in March, beating the Peugeot 208, the Kia Niro, VW ID.4, Renault Zoe, Hyundai Kona, Dacia Spring, and BMW i3. Tesla's Model 3 has the advantage of being on sale for more than two years, which allowed the manufacturer to gear up production properly, which was in a bid to get close to the number of units that were ordered beforehand.
When PHEVs are concerned, Ford's Kuga was the most popular in March 2022, with 5,544 units sold. The Volvo XC40 came in second place, with 4,005, while Peugeot's 3008 has 3,748 units going for its third-place position.
Other popular PHEVs include the Cupra Formentor, the BMW X5, Volvo XC60, BMW X1, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, and the Hyundai Tucson.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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