We are more than used to controversial positions and bold declarations of intent by Elon Musk, executive director and “technoking” at Tesla, but the South African businessman still manages to surprise us.
During the announcement of the first quarter results of the year, Musk revealed that the Tesla Model Y it will most likely become the best-selling car in the world.
The American brand did not reveal the individual sales of its models, but at this event it confirmed that it sold 182,780 copies of the Model Y and Model 3 in the first quarter of 2021.
Quoted by Fox Business, Musk revealed that the Model Y could win the crown of the world's best-selling cars “probably next year”, but also said: “I'm not 100% sure it will be next year, but I think it's a lot likely".
If we take into account that in 2020 the best-selling car in the world was the Toyota Corolla, with more than 1.1 million copies sold - a drop of 10.5% compared to 2019, as a result of the pandemic - and that in 2020 the Tesla sold “only” 499 550 cars (includes the entire range of the brand), we quickly realized that it won't be easy to validate this promise of Musk.
Tesla forecasts an annual growth in production of 50%, which, if confirmed, will represent around 750 000 cars in 2021 and 1 125 000 in 2022.
However, if Toyota sales were to recover to “normal” levels by 2022, Tesla would not only need to exceed these growth projections, it would have to devote all of its production to the Model Y to reach the goal now launched by Musk.
Remember that the Tesla Model Y is produced at Tesla's factories in Fremont, California (USA) and Shanghai, China. But Musk meanwhile has confirmed that the production units in Austin, Texas (USA), and Berlin, Germany, will already be operating at cruise pace next year. Will it be enough to catapult the Model Y into the world's best-selling car title?