Tesla leads UK’s 150% increase in electric car sales
Electric car sales are surging in the UK, led by Tesla, which still maintains strong sales in the market despite the pandemic
The pandemic has badly affected automotive sales around the world. However, electric vehicle sales have held up well amid the devastation in the auto industry.
In the UK, auto sales were down so low in April and May that Tesla Model 3 took the best-selling overall spot with only 800 deliveries. The numbers are now out for June, and it shows that market has started to recover.
Auto sales went from 20,000 cars in May to 145,000 vehicles in June. However, it still represents a 35% decrease over the same period last year.
All-electric car sales are the exception — it went up 261% in June and 158% so far this year:
n June, Tesla delivered 2,517 Model 3 vehicles in the UK.
It was enough to become the best-selling electric vehicle in the market and the 9th best-selling vehicle in the market overall:
Year-to-date, Tesla has delivered just over 10,000 electric vehicles in the UK, which represents a third of the all-electric car market in the country.
Electric vehicle sales in the UK are benefiting from the government’s £3,500 electric car grant and tax incentives.
Electrek’s Take
With the June numbers coming in, it looks like outside of the US, the UK, Korea, and China were really important markets to save the quarter.
Like we reported about Korea this morning, Tesla sales in international markets have been badly affected in Q2 since the Fremont factory shutdown happened when the automaker was supposed to produce vehicles for international markets.
I believe Tesla could have sold more cars in the UK in Q2 if it had more vehicles to ship to the market.
As we reported last week, Tesla is also making a push for business vehicles and fleets, which could become really popular in the UK thanks to tax advantage to electrify business vehicles.