Model Y integral to Tesla’s surging success

Model Y has been an enormous success for the world’s most valuable car company.

As Tesla continues to grow apace and scale its global production operations, the expectation is for its models to rank higher and higher on global sales statistics. And that means displacing other vehicle models, with legacies going back decades.

With Tesla’s software abilities allowing it to be slightly less impacted by the global microprocessor crisis, the American company has suffered less supply disruption than its traditional rivals. Much of this is a credit to Tesla’s hugely advanced programming abilities, which allow it to be less reliant on a multitude of processors.

How strongly is Tesla’s car business growing? Analysts predict that Tesla could sell 1.3m vehicles this year. That growth is leveraged on its new Gigafactories in Texas and Berlin, scaling to capacity.

Tesla had a tremendous 2021, assembling and delivering 936 222 vehicles. And unsurprisingly, one the company’s most popular models is a crossover, not a traditional sedan.

Demand just keeps growing

Launched in 2020, the Model Y has been a breakthrough product for Tesla. It combines all the superior electronics and software engineering that Tesla is renowned for, in a crossover configuration.

As Tesla’s market share continues to grow, the likelihood is that it will register a product as one of the world’s best-selling models. In its debut year, Model Y sold only 25 000 units. In 2021, that increased to 161 529.

Experts now believe that the Model Y could threaten Toyota’s Corolla, as one of the world’s best-selling vehicles, next year. With all the Tesla production assets working at peak capacity, and demand showing no intent of tapering, Model Y could become one of the world’s best-selling cars in 2023. And not only electric vehicles – but in absolute terms.

The Tesla Model 3 sold 508 000 units last year, making it the world’s ninth most popular vehicle. It also attained year-on-year growth of 40%. This is almost unheard of for a vehicle in the stable trajectory of its lifecycle, instead of being in a post-launch phase.

Last year, Toyota’s Corolla and Rav4 were the first and second most popular vehicles in the world. But the top ten rankings are changing rapidly as Tesla keeps growing.