Tesla made history in 2024. According to Teslarati, for the first time in its history, the electric vehicle giant outsold Audi despite a small dip in global sales.
This accomplishment may have been helped along by a massive drop in sales for Audi. Tesla's sales dropped 1.1% in 2024 for a total of 1.79 million units sold, while Audi's dropped a whopping 12% to just 1.67 million units sold, down from 1.9 million in 2023, per the publication, which in turn cited Bloomberg.
CBT News further reported that Tesla also achieved this while only offering four models — Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y — on the global market. The Cybertruck is currently only available in North America. Audi, on the other hand, offers dozens of combustion-engine, hybrid, and electric models.
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Despite the small decline in sales, Tesla remained the top EV seller in the world, barely outselling China's BYD Co. by less than 25,000 vehicles.
Tesla's numbers may have been helped, at least in the U.S., by the fact that the company dropped the price of the Model Y, Model S, and Model X by $2,000 in April.
This news comes just a year after the Model Y became the world's best-selling car with 2023 sales of 1.22 million, knocking out the Toyota Corolla and RAV4, which had been top sellers for years. It was the first time an EV had held that distinction.
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Tesla's continuing success indicates buyers are either continuing to buy EVs or buying their first EV. Even Audi EV sales only dropped by 8% as opposed to the overall drop of 12%, per CBT News.
Transportation is currently responsible for about a quarter of global planet-warming pollution. Passenger cars in the U.S. alone account for well over 385 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution each year. This contributes to the overheating of the planet, causing an increase in extreme weather that threatens lives and the global food supply.
Fortunately, the global market is trending in the right direction. Global sales of internal combustion engine vehicles have continued to slow as EVs continue to gain a larger market share.
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