Tesla Model 3 Reportedly Outsold BMW 3, Merc C-Class And Audi A4 Sedans In Europe (Update #2)

The Tesla Model 3 has made a pretty strong start in Europe, as it became the region’s best-selling electric vehicle in its first full month on the market, and reportedly, the best-selling premium compact sedan too.

What’s remarkable is that the new Tesla outsold Europe’s strong players in the EV segment such as the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe, despite being significantly more expensive and available for a short amount of time.

According to Jato Dynamics, Tesla sold a total of 3,657 Model 3s last month. Second place went to the Renault Zoe, with 2,884 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf, the BMW i3 and the Hyundai Kona Electric. “The performance of the Model 3 is remarkable, given we normally don’t see this kind of result until four or five months after a new car has hit the roads”, said Jato’s global analyst Felipe Munoz.

The achievement of the Model 3 becomes more impressive if you take into consideration that most of its volume in February came from private customers, unlike the usual trend of a new models’ volume being made up mostly of fleet registrations.

However, Tesla had opened pre-order books in Europe for some months now, which helped it in gathering buyers ahead of the Model 3’s launch.

It reportedly beat Germany’s Big 3 premium compact sedans too

An even more stunning achievement is that according to Jato’s data, just like in the U.S., the entry-level Tesla “became the top-selling premium midsize sedan in Europe – outperforming the popular Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series” in February.

“Its long-lasting impact will depend on how quickly the German premium makers, Volvo and JLR react to the arrival of the Model 3 to Europe and how quickly they can bring in their own midsize electric cars,”said  Munoz.

Update #2: Jato backed up its claim that the Tesla Model 3 is the “best-selling premium sedan” in Europe (21 countries) for February. The electric model sold more units than the sedan versions of models like the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series, Mercedes C-Class, but the German models sold overall more examples when you take into consideration their station-wagon, coupe etc. derivatives. Jato sent us a new graph showing the sales numbers of the premium midsize class divided by bodystyle. We have contacted Audi, BMW and Mercedes for a comment, and we’ll update once we hear back.