Tesla passes Audi in luxury registrations

Tesla Inc. leapfrogged Audi in 2020 to become the fourth-largest luxury vehicle brand in the U.S. and is closing in on the top three of BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz, according to new-vehicle registration data from Experian.

The electric vehicle maker registered 200,561 vehicles last year to grab the No. 4 spot from Audi, which registered 183,594 vehicles. A year earlier, Audi topped Tesla by almost 50,000.

Tesla was roughly 65,000 registrations behind third-place Mercedes-Benz. Experts say that's a testament to the brand's cachet among premium buyers and its ability to get ahead of the competition with appealing EVs.

"Tesla was first to go all-in on EVs; it really was the only game in town," Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader, told Automotive News. "Innovation and technology along with sophistication is a winning combo."

In fact, Tesla vehicles grabbed four of the top five spots among total 2020 EV registrations, Experian said.

Unlike most automakers, Tesla does not disclose its U.S. sales, instead reporting deliveries only on a global basis.

Registrations are often lower than total sales, and it takes some time for a vehicle sold to a retail customer to show up in registration data.

Overall, automakers sold 14.6 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center, and the Experian data shows 14.2 million vehicles registered.

Tesla was aided by the earlier-than-expected launch of its Model Y crossover, even as it and other automakers had to slow production in 2020 because of the coronavirus.

Despite its recent success, the automaker could face a steeper battle climbing into the top three this year.

Legacy brands are beginning to offer viable competitors to Tesla's lineup. Mercedes-Benz is planning to offer the first model of its new EQ subbrand, the EQS sedan, this year and expects that, by 2030, plug-in hybrids and fully electric models will account for more than half of its global sales.

Jeff Swickard, Mercedes-Benz U.S. dealer board chairman, recently told Automotive News that Tesla was a "viable competitor" but that Mercedes planned to stress its experience and superior manufacturing capability to sway luxury customers.

Experts say Tesla could lose some of its appeal as newer vehicles hit the market. Kelley Blue Book found that customer consideration declined in the fourth quarter of 2020 even as it posted higher sales.

A recent study by Cox Automotive also predicted that new competition would slow Tesla's growth in 2021.

Tesla recently redesigned its aging Model S and Model Y vehicles for the first time since their launch, and CEO Elon Musk has said deliveries of the Cybertruck pickup could start by the end of the year.

It remains to be seen whether that will be enough to stop EV buyers from wandering into the showrooms of legacy brands adding new nameplates, or even looking at EV startups such as Rivian or Lordstown Motors.

"The consumer's kind of fickle," Krebs said. "Whatever's new kind of captures their attention."