Last year, sales of the Tesla Model 3 reached a fever pitch in the Netherlands and Norway. Fast forward 12 months and sales have taken a nosedive, while the VW ID.3 takes over as the latest must-have EV.
In September 2019, Tesla sold 5,768 Model 3s in the Netherlands, making it the best-selling car in the country for that month. Monthly sales also reached into the thousands in Norway last year, but new registration data for the two countries has revealed that, in October 2020, just 35 Tesla Model 3s were sold in the Netherlands and 74 in Norway.
By comparison, a grand total of 2,789 VW ID.3s found new homes in the Netherlands in October while 2,475 were sold in Norway. In Norway, that made the ID.3 easily the best-selling car, beating the Toyota RAV4 that secured 706 sales in October.
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As noted by Forbes, Model 3 sales have dwindled even further in the first half of November, with only 2 examples sold in the Netherlands and 5 units registered in Norway, compared to 717 and 560 ID.3s respectively.
Tesla has managed to sell a total of 3,271 Model 3s in Norway so far this year. While that’s more than some other EVs, like the Renault Zoe (2,140 units), the Mercedes-Benz EQC (2,755) and the BMW i3 (2,257), it trails the ID.3 (4,465) that’s only been on sale for a few months and the Audi e-tron that’s registered an impressive 8,203 sales. In 2019, a total of 13,980 Model 3s were sold in Norway.
The ID.3 could be considered as the first bonafide rival to the Model 3 from a legacy automaker and it shows that, while VW is a little late to the party, Tesla is finally facing some stiff competition.
Norway vehicle registration data via ‘Information Council for the Road Traffic’ (OFV)