After months of sliding deliveries and growing unease about Elon Musk’s political antics, Tesla is crawling back. The American carmaker has not only retooled its two best-selling models, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, but also recorded a sales recovery during the third quarter of the year. Even in Europe, sales are partly picking up again.
Tesla delivered just over 497,000 vehicles worldwide between July and September, representing a 7.4% increase over the same period last year and significantly exceeding analyst expectations. Most of that growth came from the Model 3 and Model Y, which together increased by 9.4% to exceed 481,000 units. It marks a turnaround after two weak quarters in which Tesla struggled with its weakest performance in almost ten years.
The limits of minimalism
The improvement coincides with the rollout of the revised Model 3. In its newest version, the sedan not only travels further on a single charge but also quietly walks back one of Tesla’s most controversial design decisions.
The return of the indicator stalk, removed in the “Highland” facelift two years ago, may sound trivial, yet for many drivers, it symbolizes a recognition that minimalism has its limits.
Critics had dismissed the button-based system on the steering wheel as clumsy and distracting. Several weeks ago, the return of the stalk surfaced in China, where it was reinstalled in the Model 3, and offered as a retrofit option to existing customers. So, the further rollout doesn’t come as a surprise.
Up to 750 km range
Technically, the bigger news lies under the floor. The Model 3 now features upgraded high-density LG battery cells, which increase its range to up to 750 kilometers on the WLTP cycle, a 48-kilometer increase over the previous Long Range model.
Entry-level versions reach 520 kilometers. The good news is that the more efficient batteries don’t affect the price. The same batteries will be installed in the Model Y, but only in the Long Range version with all-wheel drive. This model’s range grows from 586 to 629 kilometers.
The update also includes a new front-facing camera with washing and heating functions to improve visibility. This small but practical feature shows Tesla’s gradual shift towards refinement after years of aggressive cost-cutting.
Resurrection in Europe
The company’s resurgence in sales statistics, however, is not the result of engineering tweaks. In the U.S., a surge in electric vehicle sales was fueled by the expiry of the $7,500 tax credit at the end of September, prompting buyers to order before the incentive disappeared.
That tailwind will fade in the final quarter, but Tesla wants to counter with an entry-level model, basically a stripped-down version of the Model Y.
The SUV remains the bread and butter for the EV maker. Also in Europe, it has renewed sales interest. In the Netherlands and Sweden, registrations continued to decline, but in Norway, it remains the best-selling car. Meanwhile, France (+2.7%) and Denmark (+20.5%) also showed a resurgence in interest in Tesla models. In Spain, the Model Y and Model 3 topped the charts last month.
