Electric vehicles (EVs) are overtaking luxury internal combustion engine (ICE) brands more consistently than ever, with Tesla’s January registration data showing an electrifying trend.
Tesla led luxury sales in the U.S. in January, with 37,162 vehicles registered representing a 49 percent increase year-over-year, according to Experian data reported by Automotive News.
Last year, Tesla nearly surpassed BMW as the top-selling U.S. luxury brand, and its strong start this year is expected to hold up as more buyers move to EVs.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y Rank as Top Considered Luxury Cars in Q4 https://t.co/gRcbaDt1sD
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) February 16, 2022
BMW’s registrations increased 8.2 percent year-over-year, for total January sales of 30,563.
Fellow luxury automaker Lexus had 24,843 registrations in the same month, marking a 5.5 percent decrease year-over-year.
Mercedes-Benz suffered the worst, with 22,022 vehicles registered for an overall 20 percent drop year-over-year.
It’s worth noting that registration and sales data aren’t the exact same, since vehicles can be sold and registered in separate months.
The news also comes just weeks ahead of Tesla’s opening of its Gigafactory Texas, expected to significantly increase production in the U.S.
In addition, the automaker plans to increase output at its Fremont, California factory to as many as 600,000 vehicles in 2022.
Tesla is also opening its Gigafactory Berlin later this month, which Wedbush says is a “major competitive advantage” in the global market.
