The Tesla Model 3 luxury all-electric four-door compact executive sedan is Europe's best selling electric vehicle (EV) in the first quarter and looks to retain this title in the second quarter of the year.
Tesla sold 19,482 Model 3s in Q1, easily outselling the Renault Zoe (the reigning top EV), which sold 11,049 vehicles in the same period. The Nissan Leaf, which has been in Europe for years, was third best, selling 10,315 vehicles, said Matthias Schmidt, an auto industry analyst based in Berlin.
The rapid dominance of the Model 3 is quite surprising given it only made it to Tesla's European dealers in February. Even more surprising is the Model 3 hugely outsold the Renault Zoe despite the American EV costing two to three times as much as the French.
Model 3 also beat all the other European luxury EVs. The Jaguar I-PACE, which recently received the World Car of the Year award, sold a mere 3,012 units in Q1 (good for seventh place). The Audi e-tron, which was once regarded as a "Tesla Killer," failed to live up to this moniker, selling only 2,526 units.
European industry analysts, however, don't believe the lackluster sales of European EVs is due only to Tesla's superiority. They pointed out the Model 3's competition might be deliberately limiting their sales due to the European Union's (EU) strict carbon dioxide regulations that will become far tougher in 2020.
European EV makers might want to boost sales in 2021 to bring down their average emissions and avoid hefty EU fines. Because of this, Tesla was given the advantage to push Model 3 sales since its EVs are in no danger from the EU's tougher emissions rules.
European carmakers have conceded the EV crown for this year to Tesla because of these reasons. Analysts expect the Model 3 to finish 2019 as the top-selling EV. They note that Tesla is the only manufacturer that doesn't have an issue meeting fleet average CO2 emissions. This gives Tesla an open goal up to the end of this year.
Tesla is a big hit among Norwegians. There are a total of 5,822 were Tesla Model S, Model 3, and Model X in Norway out of the country's10,000 EVs in March.
More than 18,000 EVVs and gasoline-powered cars were registered in the country during the month.
The Model 3 is also a big deal in Switzerland, and was the country's best-selling car at the end of Q1, electric or gasoline.
