Tesla Model 3 tops March passenger vehicle stats

The Tesla Model 3 (949 units), the MG ZS (129 units) and the Polestar 2 (105 units) were the top three EVs among 1761 light and 16 heavy battery electric vehicles (BEVs) registered in March, the Model 3 also the top selling passenger vehicle.

While the rush to beat the Clean Car Discount fees applying from April 1 saw the highest monthly sales of new vehicles (21,044), the Motor Industry Association (MIA) says there were 1777 pure electric vehicles, 431 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 496 hybrid vehicles sold in March.

Tesla’s 8% market share was also second behind Mitsubishi which retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations with 11% market share (1237 units) and Toyota was third with 862 units, says the MIA.

Top selling passenger and SUV models for March were the Tesla Model 3 (949 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (625 units) and the Toyota RAV4 (496 units).

The top selling PHEV models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (144 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (121 units) and the MG HS (69 units).

Anticipated sales of petrol hybrid vehicles were soft in March with some purchasers delaying their purchase until April to take advantage of the rebate these vehicles now attract under the Clean Car Discount, says MIA chief executive David Crawford.

Of 496 hybrids registered in March, the top selling models were the Toyota RAV4 (84 units) followed by the Honda Jazz (42 units) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (33 units).

Registrations of 21,044 were up 35.8% (5546 units) on March 2021.  Year-to-date the market is up 12.5% (5230 units) compared to the first three months of 2021.

The top three models in March were the Mitsubishi Triton (2266 units), followed by the Ford Ranger (1933 units) with the Toyota Hilux third (1580 units).