Motor Trader The award-winning and longest running UK magazine for car retailing professionals. Your first stop for News, Jobs and Reports for the motor industry.
The Tesla Model Y made history last year as the first ever pure electric vehicle to lead the global market, says JATO Dynamics.
It secured this position despite being without a presence in most emerging markets, where it is unaffordable for most.
Felipe Munoz, senior analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “Tesla is a brand made for the developed world.
“While it cannot currently target these markets, there is potential for emerging markets to be explored as an additional source of growth in the future.”
Sales of the Tesla Model Y totalled 1.22 million units globally, up by 64% from 2022/480,000 more units than 2021. No other manufacturer has achieved this prior.
Growth in the SUV segment was largely due to Tesla (+62%).
SUVs posted a new sales record with 36.72 million units sold last year and recorded their highest ever market share. Between 2022 and 2023, volumes increased by 16%, accounting for almost 47% of the total global passenger car sales last year.
Overall, among the top 25 were 13 Japanese models, 5 Americans, 3 Chinese, and 2 Korean and European models. All three Chinese cars were BYD models.
Last year, a total of 78.32 million new passenger cars were sold (an increase of almost seven million units from 2022—a 10% increase).
These results were not driven by China. Although its annual volume increased by 6% when compared to 2022, the USA-Canada and Japan-Korea saw an increase of 12%.