Tesla bursts into top 10 best-selling cars in the world with 2 models; industry should be scared

Tesla has burst into the top 10 best-selling cars in the world with not just one but two models in 2022. It’s something that the industry should be scared of, as manufacturing electric vehicles in volume becomes clearly disruptive.

It’s hard to argue against the fact that electric vehicles are taking over.

Their market shares are rising slowly but steadily in most markets, and while they still account for a small fraction of new car sales, there are a few tidbits of data that point clearly to EVs taking over the industry faster than people think.

A market like Norway is a good example and window into the future of the broader auto industry with now over 80% of new cars sales being electric, and fossil fuel-powered vehicle sales have slowed to a crawl.

Another good example is the fact that all the fastest-growing car models are electric, and they are now even reaching the top 10 best-selling vehicles in the world.

According to data compiled by Focus to Move, electric vehicles, more specifically the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, have entered the top 10 best-selling electric vehicles in the world:

1. Toyota Corolla: 1.12 million (down 2% vs last year)
2. Toyota RAV4: 870,000 (down 14% versus last year)
3. Ford F-Series: 787,000 (down 9% versus last year)
4. Tesla Model Y: 759,000 (up 88% versus last year)
5. Toyota Camry: 675,000 (down 3% versus last year)
6. Honda CR-V: 601,000 (down 18% versus last year)
7. Tesla Model 3: 596,000 (up 4% versus last year)

As you can see, Toyota remains dominant with three models within the top five best-selling passenger vehicles in the world.

However, every single model in the top 10 is down year-over-year except for Tesla’s two vehicles.

On top of it, by revenue, the Tesla Model Y takes the first stop since it averaged a sale price of over $55,000 for most of the year.

Electrek’s Take

The auto industry should take this seriously. It wasn’t that long ago that, aside for the more savvy people in the auto industry, Tesla was mostly a joke to auto execs. They would literally laugh at Tesla and its effort to build electric vehicles in volume.

Now a few years later, Tesla has not one but two models in the top 10 list of best-selling passenger vehicles in the world.

And Model Y is on a very clear path to becoming the number-one-selling vehicle in the world this year.

All the while, every other single best-selling vehicle finds itself down year-over-year.

It proves that if you can produce a compelling electric vehicle in volume, not only is there a market for it, but it is taking over the industry.

With Toyota still not having a global all-electric vehicle produced in volume, I think it will be completely knocked off that list by 2025.