Just Months After The Germans Claim Tesla Isn't A Competitor The Model 3 Accounts For Over 50% Of Midsized Luxury Sales

tell that to the people switching from lux brands

They said the same of Lexus in the early days

Sorry - BUT TESLA itself called the Model 3 an Entry Level MASS MARKET car - and Tesla is not a premium Luxury Brand either.

Certainly the interior of the Model 3 cannot be described as Luxurious - it is barebones cheap.

WHoever wants to make the comparison should note that the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry - cars that the Model 3 competes directly with - both sold more cars than the Model 3.

you are confusing brand with model. Hundai is not a lux brand, and even Genesis is derided by many. BMW is considered luxury brand, but as an owner of a 3 series, i dont think its any more luxury than a camry.

Why does someone make this stupid statement every time tesla sales are brought up. The Tesla Model 3 (in its current form) lines up pricewise with the 3 Series/C Class/A4. There is nothing that inherently makes a 3 series a "Luxury" car. Obviously no one is comparing a Tesla 3 to a S class or a Bentley, but it is competing directly with entry level premium cars.

@malba2367- They make this statement because there are a lot of stupid people out there. It's just the math. 5% of 330M people is still a lot of people. Point being, the Tesla Model 3 is a runaway success by any measure and is commanding small luxury car pricing. BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Cadillac, Lincoln etc are all losing customers to this model and to the Tesla brand. Like it or lump it you can't argue with this kind of success.

Maybe it is 5% up in Canada, here in the States it is closer to 80% ;)

its mostly branding issue, a BMW, Merc is "lux" by brand though there is a night and day difference between a C-class and an S.

Look at the source, InsideEVs.com ?!? "According to our estimation is Model 3 sales...."
I will wait until I see an unbiased analysis.

based on the interior quality, I'd say bargain basement Passat or Altima.

actually ... price has a lot to do with it, part of the brand experience is the way it makes you feel. to make it worth the price. the other Brands have waited too long and are now losing ground... presently. But car business is fickle like that. I am sure we all remember the days when only dead and dying people were buying mercedes, cadillac still has a bit of an issue with this but things change.

I don't see it as an Avalon or ES competitor. The closest Toyota equivalent would be the IS350.

@zlives You are absolutely correct. Do not listen to the armchair experts who pronounce what competes with what or worse the outdated idiocy of "tiers". The market research show definitively that PRICE determines what gets cross shopped. Price determines the segment much more so than types of cars. Thus a $70K Model 3 is in the same market as a $70K E Class. The American market is VERY MUCH organized by price. In fact, the market research on people with $70K Rams and F150s shows a strong correlation to a so-called "premium" vehicle being parked next to it in the driveway.

@MD - I am not sure why that concept of price tiers is so hard to fathom for most posters. A guy down the street from me dropped $65k CAD on a upmarket Model 3. He basically did not have a choice as he wanted a car and did not want to wait for the cheaper version any longer. He could have had a nice car from any number of makers for that kind of dough. He is very happy with his purchase too.

@CC All you need to do is watch what people drive into the dealer. We have 5 deposits for the Shelby GT500 and the "lowest" car in terms of price driven by the customer onto the lot was an M5. One was driving an S Class.

@MD Precisely. Nobody would think a GT500 would be cross shopped with an exotic car from a European or Japanese firm, but there you go. That M5 or S-Class buyer could choose whatever they want, and what they want today is that Mustang.

@CC And the reason those buyers come for a Shelby Mustang, ZL1 Camaro, Corvette, Hellcat, Navigator, or Escalade is that such a car is to them on the same level as what they drive.

The bitching as to whether the Model 3 is a "proper" premium car is pointless. Clearly the wealthy buyers than can afford it, think it is worth the money.

Just wait until March 2019. That is when the Tesla Model Y 5 seat SUV is revealed.

Then the REAL Earthquake begins. Audi, Bmw, And Benz are going to lose a big chunk of their Q5, X5, and GLC sales to an all-electric powerhouse of an entry-level luxury game-changer. You can bet the Board Rooms in Germany are shaking in their boots thinking about the hit their bread and butter core money-earners are about to take.

Tesla. all-American manufacturing and know-how. Manufactured using Militery-Grade Electronics.

The batteries are a joint venture owned by both Tesla and Panasonic, for exclusive use in Teslas.

He spritzed them with Elon's Musk.

Nice. No follow-up needed.

I am sure the boardrooms in Germany are quite confident in their business models. See, the make profits.

I agree with you.

Uber isn't making a profit and yet investors are lined up around the block, dummy.

The success of the Model 3 is not surprising. It's an amazing car that owners absolutely love. No one who's actually driven one would disagree.

CR Dec 18 issue has the Model 3 initial reliability near middle of pack and higher than ATS, CTS, CT6, MKZ, A3, E-class, Accord, G90, plus a long list of others.

Interesting articles by 2 financial analysts attribute the high model 3 sales in the third quarter to filling backlog. That is to say, in the third quarter Tesla was filling orders that were placed over the last 2 years. Actual new sales are coming in at about 1000 per week. Not so good.

Amazing how many products you can sell when losing money on every one.

Not sustainable.

I don't see Tesla as a luxury brand. I see them as a tech brand. Some may say there isn't a distinction, but I personally think there is.

I wonder if Tesla drivers now view the driving experience not much different than going to work and sitting at their desks with just their phone and computers. Tesla interiors are very business-like and cold.

They're also the most advanced, while other lux makes are still using plastic knobs and crappy vents.

It's a sleek utilitarian look. I think most car companies are going to be moving in that direction. I've heard many people say that being driven around in the car feels like you're stepping into the future, and they're probably right.