And so the day has arrived. According to Automotive News, the fully-electric Tesla Model S has, for the first time, outsold its German rivals in Europe, namely the W222 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, G11 BMW 7 Series and Audi A8.
In years past, the Model S has always been more popular than German flagships in the United States, but never in Europe. How times have changed! “This is an alarm for the traditional automakers such as Mercedes-Benz. It (the achievement) says a smaller but smarter brand such as Tesla can beat them at home,” said Felipe Munoz, an analyst with market researchers JATO Dynamics.
It has to be mentioned, however, that the Model S isn’t really a natural rival to the German flagships, as it’s closer in size to the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series, both of which sell in much higher numbers. Still, the Tesla is priced against the larger models, and the numbers do show that buyers are willing to put their money down for the relatively new brand and its tech.
With that, Germany’s premium brands are now under pressure to accelerate their plans for electric cars. Munoz said European automakers need to address the electrification faster because customers are showing more and more interest in such vehicles and it seems that the traditional industry “can’t deliver on time.”
The market research firm revealed that sales of the Model S in Europe jumped 30% to 16,132 in 2017. Sales for the S-Class grew by three percent to 13,359, and the 7 series was down 13% to 11,735 units.
After years of dismissing Tesla, European luxury brands are now in the midst of preparing full-electric models to rival Tesla’s growing line-up. Jaguar will unveil the I-Pace soon, whereas Audi will debut its first volume EV, the e-tron quattro later in the year. Mercedes too will have its EQ C up and running the near future. They will go up against the Tesla Model X in the booming crossover market.
The Model X is a strong contender in Europe’s large premium SUV market. Its sales in the region last year were 12,000, which is about the same as the Porsche Cayenne and nearly 2,000 more than the BMW X6, according to JATO data.
Similarly, Porsche is also expected to unveil its Mission E later this year (sales slated to begin in 2019), a four-door performance sedan that will go against the Model S. Volkswagen on the other hand, will unveil the Vizzion concept next month at the Geneva motor show.
As for the Model 3, production is slightly delayed, but Tesla is slowly ramping up production of its smaller sedan that will compete with midsize and large premium sedans. The car has gone on sale in the US, but no sales were recorded by JATO in Europe last year.
Last week, Mazda announced that its research showed 60% of European drivers still see a positive future for the internal combustion engine, and that 33% of drivers said that if running costs were the same as an electric car, they would “prefer a petrol or diesel car.” Interesting times now, isn’t it? What do you guys think?
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I think le wind card will appear, Volvo, Lynk & Co will come and conquer them all. In time, you will know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet to fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives. The dragon has awakened, and it will consume everything in its path!
Volvo, Lynk & Co, Geely > all
BYD China dragon the chosen one.
https://paultan.org/2018/02/09/tesla-posts-biggest-quarterly-loss-ever-us675-4-mil/
After Mesidis, veli soon Tesla. Just waiting game only.
Soon! Tremble before the might of Geely Empire!
Find a Forbes article titled “If Any Chinese Car Company Will Take On The World, It’s This One”, Geely is far more competent than Tesla. To quote,
“This year, Geely wants to sell between 1 and 1.2 million units (target 2017 achieved!), and it wants to reach 2 million by 2020. Volvo wants to sell another 800,000 units by 2020, Volvo boss Hakan Samuelson told The Economist. That 2.8 million target does not appear far-fetched at all. Group-wide, Geely already operates 12 factories, 9 in China, and one each in Sweden, Belgium, and England. Tesla wants to produce one million cars by 2020 in one factory in Freemont, California. Compare that to Geely, and you are beginning to have doubts. With Tesla.”
“Opening its holy of holiest to outside eyes, Geely couldn’t have demonstrated better that it is way ahead of the Chinese auto industry, and probably ahead of many carmakers in the world.”
Europe oso gips high EV rebate.
Sleeping s90, cant see any on the road.
Like always, everyone at paultan here, but most likely nvr buy one , say how good a Volvo is, but Volvo still hardly sell in Malaysia.
Seen a couple here in Bangsar. But mostly XC90s more popular
Subang Jaya got spot already. And a few S60 T6 Drive-E, V40 T5 Drive-E with Thor’s Hammer DRL.
Total yearly Volvo sales at 864units in Malaysia. Well done.
Most of VolvoCar sales is out of MY.
There is no doubt about it that the EV revolution is here to stay, whether you like it or not.
Hybrids will be the norm in the not too distant future.
Tesla is gonna be an Apple story..
Meanwhile jepunis cars RV in Europe goes into drain
Tesla sell but cannot make money… now wanna go up to the moon