Sweaty Elon Musk: Tesla is no longer the best-selling electric vehicle brand

Although no car brand sold as many electric cars as Tesla in all of 2023, Elon Musk’s EV brand was surpassed in sales last quarter.

It is the Chinese automaker BYD that dethrones Tesla as the best-selling electric car brand. In the last three months of last year, more BYD models were sold worldwide than Teslas.

Electric car sales in 2023

Elon Musk was able to sell around 1.81 million copies last year. BYD remained at more than 1.57 million fully electric cars. However, the Chinese made a big final push and sold more than 526,000 Teslas in the fourth quarter of 2023, up from around 484,000.

This means that for the first time in years, Tesla is no longer at the top when it comes to sales figures. Elon Musk can still boast about the best-selling car of 2023: the Tesla Model Y.

Tesla is doing well in the Netherlands

The Model Y is also at the top of the sales list in the Netherlands. Last year, no fewer than 13,788 electric cars were sold in our country, more than any other car model (electric or non-electric).

Given Tesla’s otherwise limited offering (apart from the Model Y, only the Model 3 is a top seller), Elon Musk’s entire brand has to make do with eighth place. Adding all models together, Tesla sold 19,428 cars in the Netherlands in 2023.

EV sales of BYD in our country

However, BYD is only in 31st place in the Netherlands with 1,230 cars sold in 2023. In the list of best-selling car models, the most popular BYD model, the Atto 3, is in 99th place. The Chinese car manufacturer sold 1,070 cars last year. Sales in the Netherlands.

It seems like Elon Musk has nothing to fear for now when it comes to sales in our small country. Nevertheless, Tesla can be proud. BYD is rapidly expanding its model range. We already knew the Atto 3, Han and Tang and last year the brand added the Seal, Seal U and the affordable Dolphin models. We are excited to see how the sales battle will develop this year.