Tesla sweeps sales in the United States among electric cars. It’s not a matter of perception, it’s a matter of numbers. With data from Q3 2024 completed, 945,722 electric cars were sold between January and September. Of them, 284,831 units were a Tesla Model Y and 131,975 were Tesla Model 3. In total, these two cars accounted for 44.1% of the electric cars sold in the country, according to data from Cox Automotive.
In addition, the Tesla Model S and Model X (their most expensive vehicles) exceeded 10,000 and 15,000 registrationsrespectively. These are numbers that place them on a par with much more accessible cars such as the Toyota bZ4X or the Volkswagen ID.4 but, above all, far from cars that are much more similar in Price such as the Porsche Taycan (4,072 units) or the Mercedes EQS (8,014 units).
Tesla’s performance is good, even with its Cybertruck. Tesla’s electric pick-up has added a total of 28,250 registrations in 2024 when Q3 2024 ends. Looking at its rivals, it is a good figure considering that it was the year of launch and that units were delivered in the first months with a dropper, going from less than 3,000 units in Q1 of 2024 and 8,755 registrations in Q2 to 16,692 units from Q3 2024.
To give us a better idea, the electric Hummer signed by GMC has added 8,902 units so far this year. The Chevrolet Silverado EV is at 5,252 units. Only the Ford F-150 Lightning, which was already on the market in 2023 and did not have to start production this year, comes close after signing 22,807 registrations.
And, despite everything, there is a feeling that the launch of the Tesla Cybertruck is being bad or, outright, a disaster. Probably because of the continuous calls for review and the videos that have left Tesla in a bad light. But, above all, because expectations were so high that the company does not seem to be able to put all the cars it expected on the market.
A balloon that rises punctured
If we take the trend into account, Tesla will cover the first two positions on the podium of the best-selling electric cars in 2024 in the United States with the Tesla Model Y and Model 3. And it is expected that the Tesla Cybertruck will end up on the verge of taking over the third position.
So far this year, only the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 outsell the Tesla pick-up. Tesla has less than 2,000 registrations for the Hyundai model but it will have to trace more than 7,000 units to Ford’s electric SUV. All in all, the upward trend of the Cybertruck has already placed it as the third best-selling electric model in Q3 2024.
However, as we said, expectations should have been much higher. They explain in Motorpassion that the company is modifying its versions Foundation Seriesto sell them as basic models and dispose of a stock that does not seem to be finding the number of buyers that the brand expected.
The launch of the Cybertruck was marked by price controversy since its presentation. When Tesla definitively presented the electric off-roader in December 2023, it ended up confirming that it would arrive with a price 50% higher than expected. In 2019 it was said that it would start at $39.90 but its base model was not announced for less than $60,990.
Tesla is close to taking the podium of the best-selling electric cars in the United States. The big question is whether it will be enough to consider the Cybertruck a success
The final cost for the first winners to receive the car went far beyond this price. In fact, the pick-up quickly became the best-selling car worth more than 100,000 euros in the United States. In response, Tesla put its employees to work at full speed to release the most expensive models. The time had come to cash in.
The fever was such during those first months that the units on the second-hand market skyrocketed and there were those who, aware of what was coming, bought 20 units for their rental company, with great success. But, little by little, it seems that the fever is going down and the balloon is no longer rising so quickly.
Tesla sales expectations are likely to be punctured. It must be remembered that during the years of delay of the model, they accumulated 1.9 million reservations for an electric car that, for the moment, is only sold in the United States and that would have to be completely modified to reach Europe. A waiting list of up to five years was expected to receive a unit.
But it is one thing to reserve a unit and another to formalize the purchase. They know this well at Stellantis, where purchasing expectations for their American brands were completely inflated, which has created a stock problem for the group in the country. In Morococheselectricos They wonder where those more than a million reservations have gone with the units sold. Only 5% of the reservations would have been formalized with the figure of one million customers waiting.
All of this has caused, as we said, the company to be modifying its Foundation Series (which added an extra cost of $20,000 to the model) to sell the cars as base models. Without it, customers will not find the badges that recognize the unit as such and other minor details but they will not get the most advanced semi-autonomous driving package as standard.
To all of the above we must add more information provided by Electrekwho assure that Tesla sources have confirmed to the media that the company is also modifying some units to release them in the Canadian market. Information that adds to the interest that Tesla seems to have shown in the Chinese market.
If we look at the number of sales, there are not exactly few units that the company has managed to place on the market. The big question is what expectations Tesla had and how many units it needs to sell to make profitable a model whose production process is very expensive due to the handling of the enormous steel plates it assembles. In fact, it was Elon Musk himself who assured that he had “dug his own grave” with the model and that it would take more than a year for it to become profitable. Statements that Tesla denies by ensuring since last October that the car is already profitable.
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