America’s best-selling premium car of 2018 is the Tesla Model 3

TESLA’S Model 3 got the better of not only its premium sedan rivals but also every other SUV to land the crown of America’s best-selling premium car of 2018.

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It marked a very special year for the company as it finally began to see light at the end of its ‘production hell’ tunnel. In fact, it sold more cars in 2018 alone than it had for every previous year combined.

The company shifted 245,240 vehicles globally, which still makes it something of a minnow compared to giants like Toyota, Ford and General Motors.

Nevertheless, more than half of those sales were Model 3 registrations in the US, with InsideEVs claiming that the Model 3 found 139,782 new homes in the States.

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The runners up included a cavalcade of light trucks, the Lexus RX shifting 111,641 units, followed by the Mercedes-Benz GLC (62,435 units) and Audi Q5 (61,835 units).

That’s quite an achievement for a car that’s new to market and a breath of fresh air if you’re depressed by the fact that SUVs increasingly dominate sales charts.

What’s more, the Model 3’s growth ramped up as production issues were ironed out.

The third quarter saw 55,000 registrations, with 63,000 going out of the Fremont factory’s doors in Q4.

That is only set to accelerate still further with the introduction of a more affordable rear-wheel drive version with a standard battery that’s slated to arrive towards the end of Q1 2019.

Right hand drive production is slated to begin in mid-2019 with Australian imports arriving shortly thereafter.