Tesla just managed to hit the low end of its 2015 yearly guidance even though the Model S significantly outsold every other plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) in the world. The EV firm sold 50,366 units of the Model S in 2015, making this luxury car the top selling PEV, leaving the Nissan Leaf far behind with about 43,000 global sales, says a report from Hybrid Cars.
In cumulative sales, Model S lags Nissan Leaf
In 2015, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV secured third place with sales of 39,000 units to overseas markets as its entry into the U.S. market has been delayed. BYD’s Qin PHEV stood at the fourth spot with 31,898 units just in China, and with 24,057 worldwide sales, the BMW i3 stood at fifth place, says the report, citing sales tracker Mario R. Duran. In 2015, the world market absorbed about half a million PEVs, and Tesla accounted for about 10% of those.
Tesla’s Model S, launched in mid-2012, is cumulatively the second-best seller with 107,148 sales since then. It lags the Nissan Leaf, which was launched in December 2010, but is ahead of GM’s Volt/Ampera, which too was released in Dec 2010, with total sales of 106,000. In 2014, Tesla sold 31,655 units of the Model S and acquired the second-best seller position.
Model X demotes Tesla to second spot
For Tesla, the U.S., is its biggest market cumulatively to date, accounting for about 60% of all Model S production since launch. With around a 9.4% share, Norway is the second market, and China, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark are other important markets for the EV firm.
Tesla faced a big challenge while entering the fourth quarter 2015 of as it sold just 33,151 units till then. In the last quarter, the carmaker ended up selling 17,400 more cars, including just 208 Model X crossovers. This, however, did not make Tesla the best-selling PEV manufacturer. BYD sold 58,728 units in China by the end of 2015, including all models, which was higher than Tesla’s global sales of 50,580 units including Model X.
Nevertheless, with the Model S, Tesla has demonstrated that the market is not afraid of a car that costs two to four times more than plug-in competitors.
On Tuesday, Tesla shares closed up 1.02% at $209.97. Year to date, the stock is down by over 12%, while in the last month, it is down by over 3%.
