During a recent presentation at the University of Nevada, Reno, Tesla CTO JB Straubel mentioned that the company is now selling more cars in Europe than in North America. The company rarely reveals information about its sales by segment and it was the first official confirmation that European markets now outperform the U.S. in demand for Tesla’s Model S.
We looked at Tesla’s growth in their main European markets to explain this shift in demand for the company. According to registration data, Tesla has seen a ~136% increase in sales in Europe during the third quarter of the year versus the same period in 2014.
Significant sales increase in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden contributed to the company’s success in Europe during Q3 2015.
Tesla has seen the biggest increase in Switzerland from July through September, where the Model S outsells all competitors in the same category. During the fourth quarter in 2014, the country saw an important increase in Model S deliveries and the company will have to repeat similar growth this year in order to achieve their 50,000 to 55,000 worldwide delivery guidance for 2015.
The company appointed its head of sales in Switzerland, Jochen Rudat, to lead Tesla’s team in Germany. It’s too soon to say if the manager will be able to replicate in Germany the success he experienced in Switzerland, but he will have an important sales increase to deliver during the fourth quarter in both markets:
Switzerland and Germany will be important markets to watch for Tesla in the last months of the year, but also Denmark, which could be a wild card for the company in the fourth quarter since the country confirmed the phasing out of its EV incentives. Prospective buyers could have jumped on the opportunity to buy a Model S before the significant tax increase take place.
Tesla’s sales are an important metric for the short and mid-term future of electric vehicles. Like any other industry, the automotive industry is driven by profit-making. If an automaker solely manufacturing electric vehicles, like Tesla, can show growing sales while maintaining favorable profit margins, there is no better motivator for the incumbents to accelerate their electric vehicle programs.
Other posts based on registration data:
- A look at Tesla’s sales ahead of Q3 delivery results
- Tesla has found a great market for the Model S in Belgium – sales are up 70%
- Tesla Model S sales are up 350% in Sweden
- Tesla Model S sales are up 84% in Germany, while BMW i3 sales are down 27%
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Considering how small Switzerland is, the numbers are impressive there.
Yes that is true, but Norway is even smaller:-)
But everybody knows that Norway has huge incentives for buying EVs… In Switzerland, the only thing you get is a reduced circulation tax.
How much of that is due to acceptance of direct sales vs the artificial barriers set up by states paid off by auto lobbyists in the US?
Ï would think Tesla’s direct sale hurdles in US have little effect on sales. People can still buy via the web anywhere in the states. If anything, the media attention around the issue probably help them…
How come Electrek NEVER give data for the UK when talking about European sales – the UK is still in Europe or are they unaware?
Based on UK Government registration data, Tesla delivered 541 MS cars in the UK during the first 9 months of this year.
We therefore know from published DVLA quarterly data that 193 additional Tesla model S were on the road as of the end of Q3 compared to the number at the end of Q2.
(282 model S were sold in the UK is Q3 2014, UK sales have been fairly consistent in the region of 200 cars/qtr since deliveries started in Q2 2014)