Tesla has passed Mercedes-Benz, moving into third place in the race for most new car registrations through September amongst luxury automakers. What’s more, the electric-car-only brand’s sales appear to be growing quickly enough to threaten second-place Lexus or even first-place BMW by year-end.
The data come from Experian and reflect new car registrations in all 50 states. Tesla does not provide sales reports broken out by country, so registration figures may be the most accurate way to measure how many Americans are driving home in a new Tesla electric vehicle.
A total of 230,855 did so in the first three quarters of 2021. That bests Mercedes by more than 17,000. It trails second-place Lexus by just over 15,000. BMW had a comfortable lead, with 259,237 new registrations.
But Tesla’s numbers are growing faster than those of its rivals. New Tesla registrations were up 76% over the same period last year. BMW saw 36% growth, compared to 33% for Lexus.
Sales of electric cars continue to grow, even as overall cars sales have slowed dramatically in recent months.
The numbers come even as a global shortage of microchips has left most automakers with a thin supply of new cars to sell.
It also comes despite steadily increasing prices. Tesla has raised prices of all four of its models at least six times so far in 2021. Last October, a Model S Long Range cost $69,420. This October, that same car carried a sticker price of $94,990.
Also, Tesla has exhausted federal tax credits available to buyers of most electric cars. Buyers are no longer eligible for the $7,500 break that all other manufacturers except GM offer.
The Tesla Model Y SUV is by far the nation’s best-selling EV, accounting for nearly 40% of total EV sales. The Tesla Model 3 sedan claimed second place.
