Throughout the world car sales have suffered dramatically during 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic. What has been positive within this climate is many countries have seen the sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) rise dramatically. This has been the case in the USA where Tesla accounts for around 75-80 percent of these electric car sales.
Overall sales in the US car market fell nine percent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. This is better than earlier in the year when sales were down even lower. For the year-to-date in the first three quarters, sales are down 19 percent. Almost all combustion engine car brands have seen falling in sales during 2020. It has been mainly electric cars and PHEVs that have bucked the trend.
Tesla, which is the best-selling electric car in the US, saw sales rise by an impressive 22 percent in the third quarter over the same period in 2019. Tesla sold 140,000 vehicles during this period.
It’s believed the boom in Telsa sales is down to more people becoming switched on to the brand, increasing awareness of green issues and the launch of the Model Y sports utility vehicle at the start of the year. With Tesla sales increasing globally the brand expect to hit a million sales in-the-near-future putting them on par with the world’s most established carmakers.
