Will The First BIG SURPRISE Of 2019 Be That The Tesla Model 3 Was The Best Selling Luxury Car Of 2018 When The Final Numbers Hit?

Two points here: first, it is not a luxury car; second, the burst of sales in the third quarter was in no small measure fulfilling the order backlog. New orders are trickling in as the novelty wears off.

What about the burst of sales in the fourth quarter?

Q4 sales came almost entirely from new orders, not from the original reservation list.
Q1 and Q2 may see a dip in US sales compared to Q4, but global numbers may be better than Q4 due to increased production rate. The base Model 3 is scheduled to arrive in Q3, Then GF3 production to start in Q4'19 in China, 2020 will be colossal.
2018 is only the beginning (of the end of ICE)

No surprises. Won't even be close. Tesla sold more than twice as many Model 3's as any of the luxury sedan competition. Great car. Owners love it. Word of mouth very positive. I predict even more success in 2019.

Owners love the 3 so much there are very few available for sale on the used market.

Why should a Model 3 be on the used car lot so soon? Seems to me that would be a massive red flag of failure.

i don;t know if i believe that, i am sure i see more toyata camrys luxury version driving around than tesla.
and it actually is more luxurious.

As someone who has owned a Camry and Lexus ES, I would take the Model 3 interior any day of the week.

The biggest surprise is that some folks still view Teslas as luxury cars. Is the Volkswagen Golf R with every option ticked and a $51,410 price tag a luxury car?

Repeat after me: An expensive price tag does not necessarily mean luxury.

Luxury is in the eye of the beholder. A silent, vibration free electric motor is quite a luxurious experience, relative to some whiny turbo.

Luxury is cruising in the comfort of a quiet cabin and enjoying my favorite soundtracks, passing any car at will, charging at home, having the car making itself better over time, having the car readying itself for the next drive at a touch on the phone app, having the car drive itself in busy freeway traffic, and best of all having a blast driving on winding country roads on early weekend mornings in complete silence. It's a new kind of luxury that has to be experienced to understand. No amount of words can do it justice.

The age of luxury in fine leather and lots of buttons, loud exhaust noise and sluggish ICE machine belongs in the past. Make way for the new EV age.

The Model 3 is probably not a luxury car. However I would say any of the larger Tesla's are luxury cars. One of the characteristics of a luxury car is vehicle quietness. A Tesla is very quiet car. Further it then depends on what amenities a luxury car offers. The larger Tesla I understand give you pretty much what you would find on a BMW or Mercedes or Lexus. I have been reading about quality control problems especially on Model 3's. A lot seem to fall on inconsistent exterior paint quality and poor fitting body panels.

Sit in a MS S-Class, Lexus LS or Land Rover and then sit in the Tesla and try to convince yourself it is a luxury car.

sit in a honda accord and repeat with same results.

Drive a Tesla for a day, then go back to your car and discover what true luxury means these days.

So luxury means a poorly engineered, poorly built, overpriced economy car?

tesla spies with their baghdad bob like likes about tesla. as if we can see thru the ass kissery

fake news, this is a legit journo site

Read Tuthy's comments and try to convince yourself he has any sense of intelligence.

Your point? Compare any Tesla interior to any true luxury car. It reeks if cost cutting to accommodate the expensive battery.

To me the hallmark of a luxury car are the materials you touch, sit on and smell. A True luxury car in my opinion should have 3 basic elements I call WLC. Wood Leather and Chrome. Next it should have thick pile carpeting for the floor mats. A classic example would be the Bentley Continental GT, Rolls Royce Phantom. Older Mercedes and Jaguars used to have these types of interiors as well. As far as accessories of course the heated seats, sunroof, climate control etc.. Most so called luxury cars of today have reduced the amount of WLC in them to a large degree. They are doing Piano black, or fake aluminum, or so much gloss on the limited amount of wood that it almost does not seem like wood at all. The infotainment system seems to have substituted WLC for this instead.

The seats, the pano roof, streamlined dash, center console, largest screen in the segment, heated seats, best in class nav and ux. Especially in white is looks very premium.