Tesla Model 3 is the first electric car to top European sales

[PARIS] Tesla Inc's Model 3 was the top-selling vehicle in Europe last month, the first time an electric car has outsold rival models with gasoline engines.

The US automaker's most affordable vehicle beat out cars including Renault's Clio and Volkswagen's Golf, said Jato Dynamics. The Model 3's performance partly reflects "Tesla's intensive end-of-quarter sales push," the research firm said in a report released Monday.

Taking the monthly sales crown is a major milestone for electric vehicles (EVs) and another sign that the automotive industry is accelerating its pivot away from the combustion engine.

It is also the first time a car made outside of Europe has claimed the region's top spot. Governments are offering generous incentives to entice buyers to trade in combustion-engine cars, with fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounting for 23 per cent of the market in September, a near doubling from 2020.

Still, the development comes against a grim backdrop for European auto sales because the global semiconductor shortage is crimping production and delaying shipments to customers. New-car registrations dropped by a quarter last month and dealers are struggling to fill lots.

Jato said: "The growing popularity of EVs is encouraging, but sales are not yet strong enough to offset the big declines seen across other segments."

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Tesla shipped 24,591 Model 3s to customers in September, a 58 per cent increase from last year.

In a separate development, Tesla Inc announced that it has set up a new research and development centre in Shanghai as it continues to expand its presence in the Chinese market.  The centre – the electric carmaker’s first overseas – will help the company “bring products and services that are more in line with the needs of the Chinese consumer”, Tesla said in a statement.  The carmaker also announced it had completed a data centre in Shanghai and that both will be put into operation soon. Tesla did not say how much the centres cost.  

When trading opened in New York on Monday, the news that Tesla had topped the monthly sales chart in Europe, on top of Hertz putting in an order for 100,000 units of Tesla's Model 3 electric car, sent the company's stock up 4.5 per cent at US$950.53, a new record high. This sent the company's market capitalisation near US$1 trillion. The news from Hertz comes as Tesla is coping with a backlog of unfulfilled orders for its vehicles and continuing supply chain disruptions, but it does solidify the mainstream appeal of electric cars.

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