THE BIG NEWS: The Tesla Model 3’s cumulative sales have passed the cumulative sales of ALL General Motors plug-in vehicles, ever produced, combined. I’m talking about a single Tesla model, not their entire product line. Those vehicles include the Chevrolet Volt, Bolt EV & Spark EV, the Cadillac ELR & CT6 and GM’s EV-1. The Model 3 has only been produced for 25 months. In just 2 years and one month, it has beaten GM’s plug-in vehicle sales totaling a span of 14+ years (1996-2000 and 2011 to now). It should be noted that, since the Volt became available, General Motors outsold all of the other manufacturers of plug-in vehicles and the Volt (now discontinued) is still ahead of the Tesla Model S, in cumulative sales, albeit GM produced the Volt for 89 months versus 86 months for the Model S. Volt sales have been coasting on inventory since the last one rolled off the assembly line in February of this year. The Volt’s lead will, most assuredly, be over, once August’s sales figures are announced.
In case you’ve never heard of the EV-1, it was produced, for lease only, between 1996 to 2003. There is a fabulous documentary that shows how fanatical is lessors were, entitled (unfortunately), “Who Killed the Electric car.”
In the graph below, you can see how the Model 3 is kicking the living shtuff out of every other vehicle I track. In fact it’s kicking it out of every plug-in vehicle ever made. Due to this, these monthly reports don’t make much sense anymore and this will be the last one.
Very few manufacturers advertise their plug-ins, in the central U.S., and when they do, they almost never mention they’re electric (other than showing it getting plugged in or unplugged). I’m basing this on television I’m seeing, in Texas. In all fairness, this lack of advertising is true of Tesla, as well. However, Tesla gets so much free press, both positive and negative, that they are usually the only electric car manufacturer of which the general public is aware. It also doesn’t hurt that Elon Musk is the Steve Jobs of the EV world. This lack of advertising may be different, in the 11 CARB states, since they issue zero emission vehicles (ZEV) credits for plug-in vehicle sales, to the manufacturers that sell them, which allow traditional vehicles to be sold in those states. This results in much higher plug-in vehicle discounts being available to residents of those states, Tesla earns these credit as well, but doesn’t have any way to use them. So Tesla has sold them to other manufacturers as a source of needed income.
My vehicle sales, in July 2019, were better than June and climbed back above my average for the month of July. The lack of vehicle demand still seems to be an issue. Traffic is still down, significanly. I only need 22 more new vehicle sales to earn GM’s Mark Of Excellence award and my sixth diamond on my ring, so that looks like a sure thing, unless a recession hits before the end of the year…
My seven July 2019 sales were comprised of two Suburbans, a Silverado 1500, a Corvette, two Volts and a Bolt EV. Bolt EV and Volt still dominate my sales, over my entire tenure here. I do not count preowned vehicles sales in my totals, since my General Motors awards are based on new vehicle sales. Thus far, in my career, I have sold 188 plug-in vehicles. In Texas, I’ll put that up against any single salesperson out there and bet it’s at least double what any one else has done. In that time, I have also sold two preowned plug-in vehicles, bringing my total to 190. Ten more and I’ll hit 200. I’m pretty jazzed about hitting that number. You can see, in the chart below, that the blue bar for July 2019 is greatly better than the non-existent purple representing July of last year, so that’s something…I guess.
The charts below, definitely show the sudden cessation of my plug-in vehicle sales and their gradual return. Killing of the Volt, combined with the halving of the Federal Income Tax Credit has definitely taken the air out of plug-in vehicle sales. That being said, I am mildly optimistic of the trend over that last three months of 0, 1, 3. Maybe 6 for August? Yes, I know it doesn’t work that way.
On a final note, a comment on Facebook asked me to comment on where I obtain my sales figures. I use several sources, including InsideEVs, GoodCarBadCar, CarSalesBase and hybridCars.
