Tesla Model 3 Tops EV Registrations in the Netherlands

Tesla Model 3 license registrations have topped the charts in the Netherlands—again. The new numbers—updated on November 23—indicate that Tesla is leading the EV market in the country by a significant margin. Its enormous lead can only mean that there is demand for the Model 3 in the Netherlands, despite what some analysts might suggest.

Over 3,000 license plate registrations for the Tesla Model 3 were counted in the Netherlands in November 2019 to date, reported Kentekenradar. The Volkswagen Polo came in second with 872 license plate registrations, giving the Tesla Model 3 a significant lead when compared to both green vehicles and ICE cars.

The total amount of license plate registrations for electric vehicles in the Netherlands was 5,483. In comparison, the Hyundai Kona came in second with 330 registration.

At precisely 3,704, the Tesla Model 3 makes up 67.5 percent of the EV market in the country. The Model S and Model X aren’t included in that percentage either. With its luxury models, Tesla commands 68.8 percent of the EV market in the Netherlands.

Back in September, the Tesla Model 3 had similar numbers. There were 5,785 Model 3 sedans registered within the month and 7,681 electric vehicles registered all-in-all. The Hyundai Kona was once again second with 534 registrations.

@vincent13031925 @elonmusk EV’s: Number of license-plate registrations in 2019 The Netherlands. As of nov 23th
Ipace 298
Ioniq 1.574
I3 2.024
Etron 1.052
Kona 5.857
Leaf 2.628
Model s 246
Model x 235
Model 3 17.714
source: https://t.co/9JnsjtOPd7

— https://ts.la/s74879 (@waku_waku) November 24, 2019

In October, the Hyundai Kona license plate registrations outnumbered the Tesla Model 3 by a small margin. It didn’t seem to be a good month for EVs in the Netherlands that month as only 2,254 license plates were registered. Out of the total, 443 registrations were for the Hyundai Kona, and 291 were for the Tesla Model 3. In Tesla’s case, most Model 3 shipments for the Netherlands were en route to Europe, which may have affected license plate registrations.

Back in June, analysts with TSLA short positions such as John Engle claimed that Tesla had demand problems in the United States. Engle, for one, said domestic demand problems forced Tesla to dive into international markets to no avail, reported Yahoo. Engle depicted a grim Q2 2019 for Tesla, saying that the all-electric automaker delivered only 464 Model 3s in April and 420 in May in the Netherlands. It was unclear where he saw those numbers.

However, Tesla community member and Reddit user u/spazmaster revealed a different set of sales numbers in the Netherlands for Q2 2019. According to the graph the Redditor posted on the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, there were over 3,000 Model 3 units sold during Q2 2019 in the Netherlands. The Redditor cited his source for his numbers as RDW.

Whether Engle’s number was correct or not, the analysts—and many like him—proved that confining share forecasts to one period may not be that effective. Engle based his 'no demand claim' for Tesla on his own Q2 numbers, and those results in no way mirrored the Model 3 sales in the Netherlands for Q3 2019. In short, Engle’s short-sightedness may have hindered him from predicting a more reasonable outcome for Model 3 in the Netherlands.

Featured Image Credit: Tesla