Only the sales data for December are missing but the Tesla Model 3 looks set to become the best-selling electric car in Europe in the course of 2021. This was reported by Automotive News Europe which cites the numbers of Jato Dynamics which highlight that in the first 11 months of the year 113,397 units of the American electric sedan were sold, an increase of 84% compared to 2020.
The primacy of this ranking now seems obvious given that in second place we find the Volkswagen ID.3 very detached with 63,109 units sold (+ 125% on 2020). The Renault Zoe, the best-selling electric vehicle of 2020 in Europe, is on track to take third place in this ranking with 60,551 cars sold, a result that shows a decline of 27% compared to 2020.
That the Model 3 could become the best-selling electric in Europe in 2021 was quite obvious given the results obtained over the year, month after month. Indeed, in September the American sedan was the best-selling car in the Old Continent. A result favored by a sum of factors but still historic as it was both the first time that a battery-powered car managed to reach this position and that it was a car not produced in Europe to do so.
According to the European Electric Car Report by Matthias Schmidt, the market share of electric vehicles in Europe is expected to reach a record 11% in 2021. And speaking to Automotive News Europe, Schmidt said this number is higher than initially assumed in part because the chip crisis forced automakers to push EV sales to keep their CO2 emissions within EU objectives.
Speaking of individual car manufacturers, Schmidt adds that Tesla will be number one in Europe, again in the electric segment, with approximately 170,000 units sold. At the Group level, on the other hand, the Volkswagen Group will be in first place with around 300,000 cars sold. Following then Tesla, the Stellantis Group and the Renault Group should obtain the fourth position thanks to the sales of the Dacia Spring.
At this point, all that remains is to wait for the final data for December and all of 2021 to draw up the final ranking and evaluate the overall trend of the electricity market in the Old Continent.