Tesla Model 3 Outselling Small, Midsize Luxury Cars In US (forbes.com)

WindBourne shares a report from Forbes: In the second quarter of 2018, Tesla produced just over 53,000 vehicles, doubling its output compared to the same quarter last year. For the first time, Model 3 production (28,578) exceeded combined Model S and X production (24,761) with deliveries to customers totaling 40,740 for the quarter. The ramp up in Model 3 production is enabling it to outsell small and midsize luxury car sales in the U.S., according to some number crunching by CleanTechnica's Zachary Shahan.

His analysis claims that the Model 3 is crushing its "competitors" in that segment with total estimated sales for July amounting to 16,000 vehicles. The closest individual model to Tesla's mass-market endeavor is the Mercedes C-Class and even then, its July sales are estimated at just 6,029 units. The Model 3 is still untouchable when sales figures from multiple vehicles produced by the same company are added together. For example, the analysis expects sales of the BMW 2, 3, 4 and 5 Series to hit 12,811 at the end of July in total while customers will get their hands on 11,835 Mercedes C, CLA, CLS and E-Class models. That all means that Tesla would have a 23% share of the small and midsize luxury car market in July, ahead of BMW's 17% and Mercedes' 17%.

Comments

Re:Regular orders or filling back orders?

[AmiMoJo]

We have been over all this. Bjorn did 510km in a Kona with normal driving, not hypermiling or anything. He was seeing over 350km range at 125km/h, so exceeding the speed limit constantly. And you are trying to compare with the M3 LR, a car that costs $20,000 more for a similar spec.

Bjorn also noted how well the autopilot works. His only criticism is that it doesn't slow down if you release your hands from the wheel, so pretty much the same as Tesla used to be until the latest software update that owners are moaning about.

CCS is good in Europe. Let's say for the sake of argument you drive really inefficiently and only get 350km range. You have better range than the similarly priced Model 3 SR so the slower charge is offset against the longer distance you travel before needing to charge. So really it's only on the second charge that the M3 starts to have an advantage, or after 700km or about 7 hours of solid driving. By being slightly more efficient you can push that to about 9 hours and still arrive at the same time as the M3.

Maybe you need to drive for more than 9 hours a day, but now we are into "EVs are crap because my off-grid remote mountain cabin can't charge them" territory.

I don't think we are ever going to agree, but perhaps we can at least get as far as agreeing that the most suitable comparison is the M3 SR with AP. It costs a little more than the top spec Kona but is similar in terms of the major features.