Tesla Model Y Expected to Lead the Field in 2023 European Car Market

Last November the Tesla Model Y became best-selling car in the European market, beating heavyweight legacy models like the Volkswagen Golf along the way. This is especially relevant not only because the Model Y is a 100% electric car, but also because Tesla usually concentrates the bulk of its deliveries in the last month of each quarter; in this case, December 2022.

This irregularity is very noticeable if we look at the October 2022 ranking, in which the Tesla SUV fell out of the top 50... after being the undisputed leader in September. However, everything indicates that these "waves" of deliveries will be mitigated as the output of Giga Berlin, the company's first plant on European soil, increases.

With 19,144 units shipped in November, the Tesla Model Y saw its registrations increase by more than 260% year-on-year. The second place was occupied by the Dacia Sandero (an ICE, internal combustion engine model), with 18,746 units and an increase of 16%. Right after came the Toyota Yaris (again, an ICE model), which delivered 17,309 units after improving its figures by 150% as compared to last year, 2021.

After decades of reign of the Volkswagen Golf, with some occasional incursions by models such as the Renault Clio, in 2022 the first place in the European lists has been disputed by a total of six models: the Dacia Sandero (January), the Volkswagen Golf (February and October), the Tesla Model 3 (March), the Peugeot 208 (April-June), the Volkswagen T-Roc (July-August) and the Tesla Model Y (September and November).

All in all, taking into account figures of the whole year, the best-selling car in the old continent at the moment is the Peugeot 208, which also has a 100% electric version (the Peugeot e-208). From January to November 2022, the French firm registered 193,743 units of its popular model, which unless there some big surprise in terms of market performance, will end up taking the crown for this year.

But this in fact could very well change in 2023, as Tesla is preparing to increase the production capacity of Giga Berlin during the first quarter, during which time it will try to manufacture 75,000 cars at said facilities. To achieve this it will have to double its current capacity to 6,000 units per week.

Tesla's initial goal was to reach 5,000 units per week by the end of the year, a goal that ultimately cannot be achieved. But all in all, it would not be surprising if this milestone is reached throughout the month of January. If 75,000 quarterly units are achieved, the annual rate will be 300,000 vehicles. In this way, the Tesla Model Y could become one of the new permanent monarchs of the European car market.

Source: autonews

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.