Elon Musk makes and breaks a lot of promises, but it looks like we’ve found one he’s kept. And it’s huge. The Tesla CEO previously claimed that the Model Y would be the world’s best selling car in 2023, and according to the latest industry data, it is.
Okay, so we’ve only got Q1 figures rather than full year numbers to go on, but there’s no reason to doubt that the Model Y won’t hold its lead, particularly now that Musk has made clear that he’s prioritizing volume over profit and recent price cuts make the Y more appealing than ever.
To the numbers then. Data from Jato Dynamics reported by Motor1 reveals that the Model Y notched up 267,000 sales in Q1, which represented a massive 69 percent increase versus the same period the previous year. Meanwhile, the Toyota Corolla, which ranked second, sold 256,400 units in the first quarter.
Related: Tesla Model Y Becomes World’s 3rd Best-Selling Car Challenging Toyota’s Reign
But the worse news for Toyota is that while the Model Y is increasing in popularity, the Corolla is moving in the opposite direction as buyers turn away from conventional combustion cars to SUVs, EVs and, of course combinations of the two, like the Model Y. While the Model Y remained popular in China, Corolla sales in the region dropped by 29 percent. And at the same time as the Y enjoyed a 68 percent uplift in the U.S. the Corolla was dropping sales to the tune of 10 percent.
Then there’s Europe to factor in. The Corolla never makes it to the top 10 in the region, but the Model Y was the top seller of any vehicle there, regardless of power source or body style. Unless Tesla suffers some catastrophic disaster the Model Y is going to finish 2023 as the world’s best selling car. Looking back at the full-year numbers for 2022 we can see that the Model Y came third with 747,700 units, behind the Corolla (992,000), which itself was pipped by Toyota’s own RAV4 (1 million).
It wasn’t all bad news for Toyota, though. Tesla might have nabbed the top spot, but an incredible four out of the top five best selling cars in Q1 are made by Toyota. Tucking in behind the second-place Corolla are the Hilux pickup (214,700), RAV4 (211,000) and Camry (166,200).
BREAKING: For the first time ever, the @Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car in the world in Q1 (2023), according to JATO data for 53 markets worldwide.
This would be the first EV to ever achieve this feat.
Source: https://t.co/BVhDIztMHI pic.twitter.com/DRkfyHjul4— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 25, 2023