For the first time ever, an electric vehicle has topped the global ranking for best-selling vehicles. According to automotive business intelligence company JATO Dynamics, the Model Y outsold the RAV4 by just under 200,000 units in 2023.
Tesla moved 1.23 million examples of the Model Y on a global scale last year, whereas Toyota delivered 1.07 million examples of the RAV4. The largest automotive manufacturer in the world is further listed by JATO Dynamics with 1.01 million units of the Corolla. Of course, the grand total includes the China market-exclusive Levin.
It should be noted that the final numbers will be published by JATO Dynamics in the second quarter of 2024. Thus far, JATO has collected available data from the world's largest new car markets, including the United States of America, the European Union, China, and India.
Volumes for Middle Eastern markets (think Bahrain, the UAE, and so forth), North Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan are preliminary. For these markets, JATO Dynamics used forecasts of December 2023 sales based on existing data.
It's nigh-on crazy how a two-decade-old automaker evolved into a global powerhouse in such a short period of time. Tesla was incorporated in 2003 by founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, whereas Elon Musk joined the party in 2004 as the automaker's largest shareholder. Building on the popularity of the Model 3, the Model Y entered series production at the Fremont assembly plant in January 2020. Four years later, the D-segment crossover is currently manufactured in Fremont, at Giga Texas, at Giga Shanghai, and Giga Berlin.
Photo: JATO Dynamics
Equipped with conventional rear doors rather than double-hinged gullwing doors for the Model X, the Model Y shipped more than 456,000 units in China last year. European registrations improved to 255,000 units. Depending on your source, Tesla moved either 403,897 or 394,497 units of the Model Y in the United States of America. By comparison, the RAV4 sold 434,943 units last year in the US.
Similar to the Model 3, the Model Y will be updated in the nearest of futures. The refresh is dubbed Juniper, and little is known about what's in the offing. Being twinned with the Model 3, chances are that Juniper will be hardly different from Highland in terms of interior and exterior design.
For the time being, Tesla advertises the pre-facelift Model Y at $379 per month (excluding probable savings). The purchase price for the rear-wheel-drive version is $43,990. Stepping up to the all-wheel-drive Model Y Long Range and Performance results in $48,990 and $52,490 at the very least.
As implied, the sweetest spot in the range is… uhm… the Long Range thanks to its EPA-rated 310 miles (499 kilometers) on the combined test cycle. Although not as fast as the Performance, zero to 60 in 4.8 seconds is fast enough for most people.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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