VFACTS March 2022: Tesla beats mainstream carmakers in monthly sales race

Tesla has sold more cars so far this year than more traditional mainstream rivals such as Honda and Audi, new sales figures have revealed.

The US brand’s monthly sales are now included in the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ VFACTS sales figures, meaning this is the first time it has been possible to directly compare it with the legacy brands since the first Model S sedans were delivered to Australian customers in December 2014.

The VFACTS debut doesn’t yet include a monthly breakdown, but we know it started the first quarter of 2022 well with 4417 sales, all of which were Model 3 medium sedans.

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This puts it on target to exceed the 12,094 sales it achieved in 2021, though this could be hampered by a blowout in delivery times.

Even so, Tesla’s year-to-date sales see it sit as the 15th most popular brand in Australia, ahead of Honda, LDV and Audi, which have sold 4089, 3553 and 2713 vehicles respectively.

That’s a fair effort for a brand with one model, which, as you’d expect, is blitzing not just the luxury medium passenger car segment – of which it has a 61.4 per cent market share – but medium-car sales overall.

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Its 4417 units sold so far in 2022 eclipsed the Toyota Camry (3359), BMW 3 Series, (788) and Mercedes-Benz C-Class (414).

The Model 3 also accounts for 86.5 per cent of battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales in Australia.