Tesla Cracks the America's Top 10 Best-Selling Sedans List

[cageymaru]

The Tesla Model 3 has gone where no electric car has gone before. The America's best-selling sedan list has never had an electric car crack into the top 10 ranking before, but against all odds and SEC settlements, Elon Musk has done it. It is noted that the number of Tesla Model 3 cars sold to Canada were unknown, but it is a tremendous achievement nevertheless. So where are those $35,000 Tesla Model 3 cars at again?

For now, Tesla is the first and only electric car to break into the ranks that are dominated by Japanese and Korean carmakers. And it's doing so at a higher price than other mass-market cars. The most expensive versions of the Model 3 are currently the most popular, with an average selling price approaching $60,000. Tesla says cheaper versions starting at $35,000--designed to appeal to a wider group of buyers--may be coming around the end of the year.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

 

[viper1152012]

Big achievement

 

[EODetroit]

Still waiting on my base model (with a few upgrades). But its awesome that Tesla is going to be profitable enough to make it to the point where they'll be able to make the base model, and no one can really argue that it won't happen any more.

 

[Eickst]

I'm more surprised the Ford Mustang made the list as one of the best selling sedans because I thought sedans had four doors

 

[Joust]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

 

[Ultima99]

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

True, you'll look cool whenever you're broken down on the side of the road. I'll make sure to wave when I drive by in my Camry.

In all seriousness I'm on my third Camry and they'd all carry me through the gates of hell and keep on going.

 

[seanreisk]

I'm more surprised the Ford Mustang made the list as one of the best selling sedans because I thought sedans had four doors

Q: Why does a chicken coup have two doors?
A: Because if it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan!


BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! aaaaaa<breathe>HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHA! Hahahahahaha! Hahaha! Heehee. Heh. *sniff*

 

[Joust]

Q: Why does a chicken coup have two doors?
A: Because if it had four doors, it would be a chicken sedan!


BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! aaaaaa<breathe>HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHA! Hahahahahaha! Hahaha! Heehee. Heh. *sniff*

Hey Dad. I am also Dad.

 

[gamerk2]

True, you'll look cool whenever you're broken down on the side of the road. I'll make sure to wave when I drive by in my Camry.

In all seriousness I'm on my third Camry and they'd all carry me through the gates of hell and keep on going.

Had two Camrys before moving on to a Prius. Toyota's simply never break down, drive well, are safe, and simply are the best vehicles from getting you from point A to point B.

 

[Eickst]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

It's typical for a new model to take over a best selling spot during the time it initially becomes available and is a *hot* item. Once the market of people who wanted this car dries up, i.e. the people who really want one get it, the numbers will taper off.

The other models sustain those numbers month after month, year after year, it is way too early to tell if this Tesla vehicle will sustain this level of sales.

 

[pcgeekesq]

I wouldn't expect Tesla to make many of the $35K cars if they are selling all the $60K cars they can make.

 

[PeaKr]

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

The toyota corolla is one of the best cars ever made.

 

[pcgeekesq]

It is way too early to tell if this Tesla vehicle will sustain this level of sales.

If the Tesla 3 every gets down to $35K, my wife will want one for the 0-60 times.
We'll just have to sell one of our Priuses.

 

[4saken]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

I see a metric shitton of Tesla 3's here in nashville area

 

[Joust]

I see a metric shitton of Tesla 3's here in nashville area

Uh huh. Count them and compare to the number of Prius cars you see. Maybe there's a shitton, but I bet there are WAY more Priuses...Prii. whatever. And allegedly it outsold them considerably.

 

[ChadD]

Uh huh. Count them and compare to the number of Prius cars you see. Maybe there's a shitton, but I bet there are WAY more Priuses...Prii. whatever. And allegedly it outsold them considerably.

The Prius has been on the market for years. Who is to say when you see one drive by if its brand new off the line or 4 years old.

How many you see on the road is no indication of nothing. Its also going to depend where you are clearly. If there is a banging toyota dealership near you where the top 1% sales force is pushing prius hard perhaps in your area its not true.

My point is the how many you see on the road test doesn't pass the test.

 

[Dead Parrot]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

This is for ONE quarter. Toyotas and Hondas have been in the top for years. Of course you will see more Toyotas and Hondas. Even the Prius has been sold for years, probably at or above current levels.

Tesla does need to show this rate of production wasn't a one off fluke and can not only be maintained but improved up on without the employees going nuts or quality becoming crap. Still, its a good sign.

 

[capt_cope]

Uh huh. Count them and compare to the number of Prius cars you see. Maybe there's a shitton, but I bet there are WAY more Priuses...Prii. whatever. And allegedly it outsold them considerably.

They're only comparing the new sedans sold during the month of august in 2018. The other cars on that list have probably (not interested enough to look it up) been on that list every month for years - so you're going to see a metric shitton more of them than Model 3s considering they've only made something like 100,000 total Model 3s to date.

 

[ecuador]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

Dude, are you doubting the fact that a bit over 50k Teslas were sold in a month (which we know from sources outside Tesla as well), or the fact that not that many sedans in general sell more than 50k/month? The "look at the cars you see" logic is of course idiotic, the Model 3 is quite a new car, and this 50k number is the peak it just reached this month - of course there are not that many out there compared to cars making these numbers for years! If it keeps at this level of sales, you'll start seeing them more, otherwise, you will not. As simple as that.

 

[Joust]

Ok, since everyone wants to be pedantic - look at the cars you can identify as CURRENT PRODUCTION YEAR vehicles. An indicator, a weathervane. It's imperfect but illustrative.

 

[BloodyIron]

For the significant masses, reliability, utility, price, and retention of value Trump "inspiring". When you're a family on a limited budget, you'll buy the thing that's affordable, and has a massive track record of not breaking down and not being expensive to maintain.

If you want inspiring, there's a Ferrari with your name on it

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

 

[castlefire]

nothing will beat corolla or camry. and thats the truth

 

[seanreisk]

GM spokesman talking about the EV1: "There simply weren't enough [EV1 customers] at any given time to make [selling electric cars] a viable business proposition for GM to pursue long term."

 

[seanreisk]

nothing will beat corolla or camry. and thats the truth

My sister and brother-in-law bought a new Corolla when they got married. That was 1991. They still have it, 400,000+ miles. No engine rebuild, no new transmission. The brakes were done 4 or 5 times, they redid the seals on the oil pan and transmission, they had to replace things like door handles and window-crank mechanisms. They can't sell it now, it isn't worth anything, and they can't junk it because it keeps starting and driving.

 

[Twisted Kidney]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

There are multiple years of those other cars, this is just a comparison of a single model year.

The reason your experience doesn't jive with these numbers is because you're using a broader definition to gauge success. Probably a better one in all honesty. After all, one great year does not make for successful lifetime sales. This data is very focused, you and I can't do that because, honestly, most of the cars on that list will be on sale for fifteen years without any huge revision. There are going to be shit-tonnes of them on the road, we won't really be able to identify the specific model year.

 

[Verge]

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

Cheap and reliable. Some people don't make so much money.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

True, you'll look cool whenever you're broken down on the side of the road. I'll make sure to wave when I drive by in my Camry.

In all seriousness I'm on my third Camry and they'd all carry me through the gates of hell and keep on going.

Has nothing to do with looking cool (you see my cars, you'll know that's not what I care about).

I'm talking about handling, responsiveness and comfort when driving.

I don't think I could ever make myself buy a car that isn't of a European design, or at least with European tuned suspension. They just feel different on the road. More precise, more control.

Every single Toyota I've ever driven has been an uninspiring mess on the road, but the Corolla was by far the worst. In that car no matter what I did I could not get comfortable in the drivers seat.

And you can keep your silly points about reliability to yourself. It's mostly a myth that Toyota's and Honda's are more reliable than other cars. In fact, just the other day I drove a 20 year old Volvo V70 wagon with almost 400k miles on it. Started up in one crank, and purred just like when it was new, and that turbocharged 5 cylinder was a hoot to drive too, despite it working on its second approach to the moon.

I will give Toyota's one compliment though. Any car can last a long time if properly maintained. Toyota's have an amazing ability to keep going even when people abuse the crap out of them by not keeping up with regular maintenance. Not many cars can say that.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The toyota corolla is one of the best cars ever made.

...and the absolute worst piece of trash I've ever driven

 

[capt_cope]

...and the absolute worst piece of trash I've ever driven

You clearly haven't driven a Taurus . Take everything bland about a corolla, give it the worst fly-by-wire throttle response and steering, and introduce that nice "float" in a straight line when you hit 70mph.

 

[Spidey329]

I'm calling bullshit on these numbers.

Even casual observation informs me that this CANNOT be true. Look at the cars you see during the course of a day/week/month. Seriously, look at the cars it supposedly beat out. Count what you see. Bet these numbers simply do not hold up to scrutiny.

Edit: I bet there are more current production year cars on this list sitting on lots in California alone than Tesla has made of all cars to-date.

Seriously, does no one else think this CANNOT be right?

I think it's how it is calculated. They likely didn't count preorders and are counting deliverables.

Since Tesla had a ton of Model 3 preorders on backorder, now that their production is ramped up, they all hit in the same quarter since they were "realized" sales at that point.

We'll see if they maintain this position or drop down the list as the preorders filter out and new orders must come in to maintain the placement.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

You clearly haven't driven a Taurus . Take everything bland about a corolla, give it the worst fly-by-wire throttle response and steering, and introduce that nice "float" in a straight line when you hit 70mph.

I actually had a '97 Mercury Sable LS (LS model had the 200hp DOHC V6, disc brakes all around, tighter suspension and bigger swaybars, as compared to the base GS version) as my college beater.

It wasn't particularly reliable. (the transmission blew up at 120k miles) but I didn't hate the way it drove. Granted, I hadn't been as spoiled by decent cars then as I am now.

 

[cdr_74_premium]

Something that strikes me when I look at that list is that I am amazed how many people buy completely uninspiring vehicles.

I drove a Corolla once. It was easily the least appealing car I've ever driven.

That's the universal description for the Chevrolet/Opel Vectra. A Corolla is a raving experience close to that.

 

[4saken]

Ok, since everyone wants to be pedantic - look at the cars you can identify as CURRENT PRODUCTION YEAR vehicles. An indicator, a weathervane. It's imperfect but illustrative.

I think electric cars, tesla in particular are absolutely useless. I would never buy one. I'm ICE for life. Just stating the observation i have made. I see Tesla model 3's multiple times a day here. That's it.

 

[DukenukemX]

You clearly haven't driven a Taurus . Take everything bland about a corolla, give it the worst fly-by-wire throttle response and steering, and introduce that nice "float" in a straight line when you hit 70mph.

I would love to have the original Ford Taurus SHO with its engine. That thing looks sexy as hell. Look at it. Interesting fact, a lot of Toyota engines are designed by Yamaha, who also helped with the Ford SHO. Personally, modern cheap cars like to hover around 150 hp which to me is a no no. Gotta have at least 200hp or more.

 

[spintroniX]

how is the Mustang on a list of sedans?

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

I think electric cars, tesla in particular are absolutely useless. I would never buy one. I'm ICE for life. Just stating the observation i have made. I see Tesla model 3's multiple times a day here. That's it.

It really depends on your use scenario.

99% of my driving is my 42 mile each way commute.

I can't remember the last time I drove further than 200 miles in a day. A 200 mile battery electric would handle any and all of my needs.

On the rare occasion I might want to take a road trip, but I don't buy a car for what I do rarely, I buy a car for what I do all the time.

It's just like how I don't understand why people buy trucks for their daily driver. I mean, how often do you REALLY haul stuff? A handful of times a year? I'd rather have a sleeker car that handles better, and gets better mileage, and on the off occasion I need to move something larger, I can rent it.

I had a reservation for a Model 3. In the end I canceled it because I hated the minimalistic interior. I'm more of a "driver-centric cockpit, with gauges and clsuters everywhere and controls within easy reach of the driver." The whole "only place there is a speedometer is on the giant shared screen in the middle" thing was not going to cut it for me.

Other than that, I kind of liked it. I don't much care for any of the self driving nonsense though. I wish I could buy one without that battery killing nonsense.

 

[Joust]

I would love to have the original Ford Taurus SHO with its engine. That thing looks sexy as hell. Look at it. Interesting fact, a lot of Toyota engines are designed by Yamaha, who also helped with the Ford SHO. Personally, modern cheap cars like to hover around 150 hp which to me is a no no. Gotta have at least 200hp or more.

View attachment 109026

Eh. 150hp is no slouch. You have to know, at one time in the not-distant past, the HP scale was much different. Like, you couldn't go into a dealership, pay money, and leave with a 400hp car. Maybe a TRUE exotic car. Things have changed substantially.

I say this contemplating the move to a CTS-V (because I am too old for a two seat car, and my little co-pilot rides in the back.)

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Eh. 150hp is no slouch. You have to know, at one time in the not-distant past, the HP scale was much different. Like, you couldn't go into a dealership, pay money, and leave with a 400hp car. Maybe a TRUE exotic car. Things have changed substantially.

I say this contemplating the move to a CTS-V (because I am too old for a two seat car, and my little co-pilot rides in the back.)

Personally I don't give a rats as about the rated HP figures.

In the end, what it comes down to to me is acceleration, which is better estimated through a combination of torqe curves, gear ratios and weight.

I don't need to have some sort of exotic race car. That doesn't matter much to me, but at the same time I can't imagine having to drive a car that can't do the 0-60 sprint in under 7s. That's usually the performance cutoff for me, as that is typically what it takes to get up to highway speed on a short onramp, or safely pass.

 

[Joust]

Personally I don't give a rats as about the rated HP figures.

In the end, what it comes down to to me is acceleration, which is better estimated through a combination of torqe curves, gear ratios and weight.

I don't need to have some sort of exotic race car. That doesn't matter much to me, but at the same time I can't imagine having to drive a car that can't do the 0-60 sprint in under 7s. That's usually the performance cutoff for me, as that is typically what it takes to get up to highway speed on a short onramp, or safely pass.

It's just a proxy. I saw "1000 HP" Supras get matched and beaten by "700 HP" cobras. When your tq curve / peak is about the size of a gnat's dick, that's what you get. On the other hand, my toy hauler probably has 200-something hp at most...and around 800 lb/ft of tq - and it's extremely heavy.

I like to go fast. I used to like going fast at the exclusion of all else when I was younger.

Now that I'm old and jaded by life, I'll take my big comfy seat, a reasonable suspension, and a non-deafening exhaust note.

Back to HP numbers - yeah, it's not a REAL thing, it's just meant to give an impression.