Tesla has surpassed Mercedes-Benz to land the number three spot for U.S. luxury-vehicle registrations from the beginning of this year to September, according to data from research firm Experian’s Market Trends Review Q2 2021 presentation, reports Automotive News.
The news comes after Tesla was nearing Mercedes’s sales numbers in August, but was still sitting behind the luxury brand in fourth place.
Tesla finished out September with a total of 230,855 vehicle registrations on the year, compared to just 213,708 from Mercedes. Lexus landed second place with 245,864 units registered, while BMW lead the auto market with a total of 259,247 units registered.
The sales surge for Tesla marks a 76 percent sales increase with the same nine-month period from 2020, with Lexus and BMW up just 33 and 36 percent, respectively.
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Edmunds Executive Director of Insights Jessica Caldwell said, “It might be a bit early to say Tesla is surpassing Mercedes in sales permanently, but the fact that it’s managed to do so with a much more limited product line is impressive.”
Caldwell continued, “Given where we are with the chip shortage, it’s probably premature to make any sweeping long-term declarations as automakers are grappling with varying degrees of difficulty, but it does show the strength of Tesla.”
Experian data also shows that while Tesla is dominating electric vehicle registrations in the U.S., its marketshare is dipping as other automakers are beginning to enter the mix.
