Since the beginning of the year, Tesla has 456 newly registered cars in Luxembourg, 25.9% more than between January and September 2019. (Photo: Patricia Pitsch/Archives Maison Moderne)

Since the beginning of the year, Tesla has 456 newly registered cars in Luxembourg, 25.9% more than between January and September 2019.  (Photo: Patricia Pitsch/Archives Maison Moderne)

For the first time, an electric car has topped the sales charts in Europe. According to data from Jato Dynamics, the Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling car in September.

This is the first time that a 100% electric car has made it to the European podium of best-selling cars of all models.

The Model 3, the Californian manufacturer's entry-level model, sold 24,591 units last September. This represents an increase of 58% over one year and 42% compared to September 2019.

But above all, it crushes the competition, since in second place, the Renault Clio represents only 18,264 units sold last September. The Dacia Sandero follows, with 17,988 units sold, and the Volkswagen Golf, with 17,507 sales in the same month.

Tesla is also in the lead in terms of 100% electric vehicles. Behind its Model 3, the Tesla Model Y is in second place, with 8,926 cars sold in September. In third place is the Volkswagen ID.3, with 8,302 cars sold.

A total of 456 Teslas registered since January

In Luxembourg, Tesla does not disclose details of its figures. Moreover, the firm Jato Dynamics specifies that its analysis does not take into account data from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Luxembourg.

Data from the National Automobile Traffic Corporation (NACC), shows that Tesla has 117 newly registered vehicles over the month of September, an increase of 85.7% compared to the 62 new registrations in September 2019.

Since the beginning of the year, 456 Tesla cars were newly registered. This is 25.9% more than between January and September 2019, when the Californian manufacturer had newly registered 362 fully electric cars.

Hertz places a mega order

Tesla saw its market capitalisation pass the $1,000bn mark at the beginning of the week after a mega order for 100,000 electric vehicles from Hertz. The rental company is banking on the Model 3 to offer a 100% electric option to its customers from November 2022. This order will allow Hertz, which filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of the pandemic in order to benefit from bankruptcy protection in the United States, to display a fleet in which electric vehicles will account for 20%.

On Wall Street, the stock of Elon Musk's company soared by 12.66% on Monday, reaching $1,024.86. As a result, its market capitalisation was $1.029bn, 12 times more than General Motors, the biggest seller of cars in the United States.

This rise on the US stock market has cemented Elon Musk's place as the richest man in the world. According to FactSet, he owns about 17% of the company.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.