The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are in the Top 10 vehicles sold worldwide
Tesla
Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, once said, "I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens." In April 2021, Musk predicted that the Model Y would be the world's best-selling vehicle. He wasn't sure if it would happen in 2022, but he was confident the electric SUV would take the global crown from Toyota's Corolla in 2023.
Moving on Up
According to a report from Focus to Move, the Model Y is now the fourth best-selling vehicle worldwide after an astonishing 88 percent jump from 2021 to 2022. There were 759,000 Model Ys sold last year, just 28,000 units behind the third-place Ford F-150 which has been the best-selling truck for the previous 46 years. Toyota claimed the top two spots, with the RAV4 at 870,000 and the Corolla selling 1.12 million.
The runway is clear for the Model Y to vie for the world's best-selling car title in 2023. There are three critical elements to achieve the goal: capacity, demand and competition.
Capacity
First, capacity. To reach the top spot, the Model Y will need to increase its sales by approximately 60% compared to 2022, which is a very achievable goal, considering both the Giga Texas and Giga Berlin factories aim to produce 500,000 cars per year. During Tesla's Q4 earnings call, Elon Musk said Tesla plans to produce about 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, up about 37% from 2022. Musk later added that Tesla may be able to reach 2 million vehicles in 2023, which would be an increase of 52% over its 2022 numbers.
Demand
Second, demand is there. In the wake of the recent price drops, Bank of America predicts Tesla's volume to jump 53 percent, up from its original forecast for 17% growth. Also, Musk said during the fourth quarter earnings call that the company is receiving the most orders year to date in its history. Plus, the price tag of the Model Y and Model 3 is now very close. As a result, many buyers may consider getting into the slightly larger Model Y over the Model 3.
Competition
Thirdly, the competition. Toyota's Corolla is half the price of the Model Y. Therefore, to grab the top spot in the world, the Corolla will have to come down a few pegs. As the manufacturer is playing catch up on the EV market, perhaps the bZ4X will take away from Corolla's typical buyers.
Top 5 Cars Sold Worldwide
Below is a list of the top 5 vehicles sold worldwide, as compiled by Focus2Move. It's not clear whether Focus2Move includes used cars in their figures or if they include sales for vehicles that have yet to be delivered.
Model
Units Sold
Pct Change
1. Toyota Corolla
1,120,000
-2.2%
2. Toyota RAV4
871,220
-13.7%
3. Ford F-Series
786,303
-8.8%
4. Tesla Model Y
758,792
+88.5%
5. Toyota Camry
676,845
-2.7%
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Tesla signaled its intention to launch its first Robotaxi network in Austin, Texas, with company-owned and operated vehicles, back in January. This network will be Tesla’s first foray into truly autonomous vehicles - ones that aren’t being directly supervised by a driver. Later in February, Tesla’s executive team confirmed that the plans were on track for the launch of the Austin network both on X and during several interviews that they participated in.
At the end of February, we also found out that Tesla has applied for a Supervised Robotaxi license in California, where the network will also launch, but with safety drivers in place.
This is an ambitious plan, but FSD has really come a long way in the past year. FSD V12 was a massive step forward from V11, and V13 has made the experience smoother and safer than ever before. FSD V14 is expected to be another big step up with auto-regressive transformers and audio input.
Still on Track
Now, Elon has tripled down on the fact that Tesla will be launching their first autonomous robotaxi network in Austin - just two months away at this point. It seems that Tesla is fully set to launch their first fully unsupervised self-driving vehicles that will carry paying passengers in June.
Additional Cities
The best part is that Elon also confirmed that they’re targeting robotaxi networks launching in many cities within the United States by the end of this year. However, remember that this will be a Tesla-run network at first - Tesla owners won’t be able to add their vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet right away.
Adding Customer Vehicles
It will take some time before Tesla meets their strict internal safety requirements before it lets customers add their own vehicles to the network. Tesla’s executive team mentioned that they intend to let owners add their own vehicles to the fleet sometime in 2026. This happens to be the same time frame that Tesla plans to launch the Robotaxi across the United States, Mexico, and Canada — something that could only be done with customer-owned cars.
That final step will be bold—and it may come with complications, especially given that autonomous vehicle approval spans municipal, state or provincial, and even federal levels. There are plenty of regulatory hurdles ahead, but this is undoubtedly shaping up to be one of the most exciting times for Tesla.
Launch Event
With the Robotaxi network launching and Unsupervised FSD just around the corner, there’s a lot to get excited about. Tesla is expected to host a launch event at Gigafactory Texas in Austin to mark the debut of its first Robotaxi network. The company previously hinted that referral code users could receive invites—offering a rare chance to score an early ride in a Robotaxi outside the Hollywood studio lot.
Tesla’s engineering mule vehicles—used to test autonomy for future platforms—have resurfaced after an extended absence. The last time we saw them was back in July, when Tesla was gearing up for its initial We, Robot event. Since then, sightings have been scarce.
These vehicles typically signal that Tesla is testing new camera placements or validating FSD ground-truth data. This time, however, they appear to be outfitted exclusively with the updated camera hardware seen on the Cybercab.
New Sightings
The mules have now been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire—their first known appearances this far east. This suggests Tesla is actively collecting data to evaluate and optimize FSD performance in new regions. Thanks to Reddit user Ready_Medium_6693 for catching the one in Concord.
Elon Musk recently mentioned that Tesla plans to expand Robotaxi networks beyond the initial Texas and California launches. So while these sightings aren’t entirely unexpected, the speed of their arrival is. It suggests Tesla is confident in its ability to train FSD for local traffic rules and driving behaviors to the point it no longer needs a driver.
Bumper Cameras
The vehicle that’s been spotted in Boston is the usual Tesla engineering Model 3… except with one unique twist. It includes a front bumper camera. Shout out to @Dylan02939106 for catching the bumper camera in these photos.
The Refreshed Model 3 Mule with a Bumper Camera!
@Dylan02939106 on X
We previously released an opinion piece regarding whether the front bumper camera would be required for Unsupervised FSD. In our eyes, Tesla will require a bumper camera for Unsupervised FSD - if only to improve direct visibility in the bumper area of the vehicle. This is key for low-speed maneuvering in crowded areas like parking lots and garages, as well as for key features like Actually Smart Summon.
It isn’t surprising that Tesla is continuing to evaluate vehicles with a bumper camera - the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Refreshed Model Y all have them now - and the rest of the lineup, including the flagship Model S and X, as well as the refreshed Model 3 - were supposed to eventually receive them as well.
With the Model S and Model X set for refreshes this year—and the front bumper camera on this Model 3 looking well-integrated rather than a temporary setup—it seems likely that front bumper cameras will soon become standard across Tesla’s entire lineup.
The Robotaxi Mule in Boston
@Dylan02939106 on X
In fact, Tesla’s newest iteration of the FSD computer has a slot for the Bumper Camera on all AI4/HW4 vehicles, so a future retrofit could even be possible.
These are some pretty exciting times - we may see Robotaxi networks actually deploy in time for Tesla’s lofty goal of “sometime in 2026” for cities throughout North America. Once many American cities begin to accept their deployment, it will be easier to seek homologation in Mexico and Canada, enabling deployment throughout the continent.
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