Market: Tesla causes a surprise
REGISTRATIONS Tesla experienced an enrollment boom in March. In fact, surveys by the importers' association auto-schweiz show the electric car as number 1. But it's worth taking a closer look. The facts are clear: 1094 Tesla Model 3s were registered (not sold!) in March. That's more than all other models and brands achieved. For the first time, a [...]
The facts are clear: 1094 Tesla Model 3s were enrolled (not sold!) in March. That's more than all other models and brands achieved. For the first time, a pure electric car is the most registered car in Switzerland in a monthly comparison.
The second-best model was the Skoda Octavia (801 units), which is otherwise at the top of this hit parade in each case. However, the Octavia still leads the cumulative annual ranking with 2361 units.
Not quite an unexpected surprise
So where does the boom in the people's Tesla, as its fans like to call it, come from? This is actually only a limited surprise and is more related to the delivery problems that have accompanied Tesla in its company history as closely as the cheers of Elon Musk's fans accompany the respective presentations of new automotive ideas.
The Model 3 was presented three years ago and pre-orders were accepted for a fee of 1000 dollars. The first vehicles have now been delivered since February - although not yet the affordable version for just under 35,000 dollars, but the variant for around 60,000 francs.
Work off old preorders
The reason therefore lies in the processing of pre-orders, some of which are several years old, and is likely to be a temporary phenomenon, especially since Tesla is already reporting production problems again.
Tesla delivered only 63,000 cars in the first quarter - a decline of 31 percent compared to the previous quarter. That is significantly less than experts had expected. It is also not known when the affordable Model 3 will be delivered in Switzerland.
4.2 percent market share of e-cars
Nevertheless, the electric boom is not entirely negligible. Since the beginning of the year, the Model 3 has been the fourth best-selling car in Switzerland. Overall, e-cars achieved a market share of 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019. By comparison, in the same period last year, the market share was 1.8 percent.
The top ten registered models in March 2019: Tesla Model 3, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf, Skoda Karoq, Volkswagen Tiguan, Audi A3, Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the perennial Fiat 500.
