Tesla has a solid chance at surpassing BMW in luxury vehicle sales in the U.S. for 2021, with new-vehicle registrations for the company’s electric vehicles (EVs) surging towards the end of the year, especially in November and with the end-of-quarter delivery push in December — reports Automotive News.
Tesla's November registrations surged, narrowing luxe race https://t.co/kIyCiuVUlp pic.twitter.com/3OVDAGZcI5
— Automotive News (@Automotive_News) January 12, 2022
According to data from Experian, a total of 303,246 Tesla vehicles were registered in the U.S. between January and November 2021, up 75% from the same period the year before. In 2021, Tesla delivered a whopping 936,172 vehicles globally, representing year-over-year growth of 87%.
BMW registrations in the U.S. for the 11 months ending November 2021 stood at 318,182, while the German automaker delivered a total of 336,644 cars in the country for all of 2021 — a 20.8% increase compared to 2020 numbers.
Assuming all of BMW’s U.S. deliveries for 2021 were also registered in the same year (which is not always the case), that puts Tesla at a deficit of just over 33,000 units for the luxury car brand crown.
The Automotive News Research & Data Center had previously estimated Tesla’s U.S. sales at 313,400 for the 2021 calendar year.
However, Experian’s vehicle registration data for the first 11 months of the year, combined with Tesla registering 42,314 cars in November alone and the fact that December is usually just as good a month for the company (if not better), indicates that the EV giant has a solid chance at dethroning BMW as the U.S.’s luxury automotive leader once registration data for the full year is released.
Experian’s full-year registration data for 2021 is expected sometime next month.
“The numbers are too close to call at this moment as December will bring more volume, but it looks like there could be an upset,” said Jessica Caldwell, Executive Director of Insights at Edmunds, the car research and purchase advice platform.
“Even if Tesla doesn’t take the top spot, it is remarkable that they have risen to the top in a short period of time, considering collapse seemed entirely possible a few years ago.”
BMW has worn the U.S. luxury sales crown for most of the last decade, occasionally trading blows with Mercedes. However, it looks like BMW’s time at the top is limited, with Tesla ushering in a new, all-electric era.
What’s more, Tesla exclusively sells all-electric cars, while BMW’s sales are a mix of the company’s gas-powered and plug-in offerings. BMW plans to double EV deliveries to 200,000 in 2022.
