Tesla Model Y overtakes Mercedes-Benz GLC as Europe’s bestselling premium SUV

The Tesla Model Y has overtaken the Mercedes-Benz GLC as Europe’s best-selling premium midsize SUV over the first half of 2022, pressing home the popularity of the electric crossover.

According to reports late last week referencing preliminary European numbers from German market research firm Dataforce, the Tesla Model Y recorded sales of 41,851 over the first six months of 2022, beating out the GLC which had sales of 40,554.

The numbers represent pan-Europe sales excluding figures from Finland and Portugal.

In third place was the BMW X3 with sales of 31,138 and the Volvo XC60 came in fourth with sales of 27,836.

The only other electric models in the top 10 were the Audi Q4 e-tron in at seventh with sales of 11,182 for the first half, and the Audi e-tron in at tenth with sales of 9,470.

However, Tesla’s sales numbers for the Model Y were so impressive that Dataforce predicted that the car could potentially surpass the Audi A3 as Europe’s best-selling premium vehicle outright.

The Audi A3 saw sales of 51,994 for the first half, leading the European premium car market.

“The Tesla Model Y has been very successful in the European market and it’s set to grow further,” said Benjamin Kibies, Dataforce senior automotive analyst, according to Automotive News Europe.

Maybe the most impressive aspect of Tesla’s place atop the pile is the fact that the company only began rolling out the Model Y across Europe last year.

As a result, the introduction of the Model Y has helped push total sales in the premium midsize SUV segment above 250,000 for the first half of 2022, an increase of 18% over the same period a year earlier.

Similarly, the Model Y’s introduction and sudden dominance has also ensured that diesel is no longer the dominant fuel in the segment, with both diesel and electric accounting for a 32% share of the segment.

Unsurprisingly, Tesla Model Y sales accounted for almost half of all EV sales in the segment, while Audi’s combined EV volume of 30,612 accounted for a third.

Tesla’s increasing presence and dominance in Europe is naturally being helped by the recent opening of the company’s Berlin Gigafactory earlier this year. Expected to be able to produce 500,000 cars and generate 50GWh of battery power per year.

However, Tesla’s share of European sales have relied more heavily on the company’s Shanghai Gigafactory, though one assumes this will even out between the two factories as time moves on, and it will be interesting to see what Tesla’s sales numbers in Europe look like by the end of 2022.