---
title: "Report: Tesla Model 3 Is Fifth Best-Selling Car of August in the US"
description: "Sales of Tesla's compact sedan are expected to increase as manufacturing output climbs."
date: "2018-09-06"
modified: "2018-09-07"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/23396/report-tesla-model-3-is-fifth-best-selling-car-of-august-in-the-us"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Car sales"
  - "compact car"
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "model 3"
  - "sedan"
  - "sedans"
  - "Tesla"
  - "Tesla Model 3"
---

# Report: Tesla Model 3 Is Fifth Best-Selling Car of August in the US

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/08/gettyimages-1009397468.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

The Tesla Model 3 was the fifth best-selling passenger car in the United States during the month of August. It sold 20,450 units according to [*GoodCarBadCar*](<https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2018/09/august-2018-ytd-u-s-passenger-car-sales-rankings-best-selling-cars-in-america/>), presumably a sales figure similar to the number of vehicles Tesla could produce throughout the month, as Model 3 demand still outstrips supply.

Tesla officially releases its own sales data quarterly, and declined to comment when asked for confirmation of this figure. Nevertheless, Model 3 sales reportedly ranked fifth among passenger cars, behind only the Toyota Camry (30,141 sales), Honda Civic (27,677 sales), Honda Accord (26,725 sales), and Toyota Corolla (26,155 sales). Strangely, it occupies a no-man's-land between the Corolla and the next-closest vehicle, the Hyundai Elantra, which is down at 15,475.

Reported Model 3 sales also beat out the combined totals of its chief German competitors in the premium compact sedan segment. In the same period, Audi moved 3,768 A4 sedans, BMW 3,751 3-series, and Mercedes-Benz 4,071 C-class vehicles, combining for 11,590 sales.

Including truck and crossover sales, however, the Model 3 slips down to 15th in the context of the entire U.S. market. Its volume is dwarfed by the Ford F-series pickup (81,839 sales) and FCA's Ram pickups (49,912 sales), as well as three crossovers each moving upwards of 33,400 vehicles each. However, the Model 3 still outsold one of FCA's biggest cash cows, the Jeep Wrangler, which moved 20,168 SUVs, a 20 percent increase over 2017 volume.

A common attraction for customers of the Model 3 is the vehicle's high Environmental Protection Agency mpg-equivalent (EPA MPGe) efficiency rating, allowing reduced running costs. However, the Model 3 is [disproportionately expensive to insure](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/23278/report-tesla-model-3-insurance-approaches-porsche-911-costs>) when compared to its competitors owing to expensive bodywork and higher claim rates than average, offsetting this cost some. This may be partially attributable to [frequent misuse of Tesla's "Autopilot"](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/20491/u-k-man-loses-license-for-abusing-autopilot-in-his-tesla>) automated driving assist suite, though this may be in turn caused by misunderstanding of [the difference between automated and autonomous](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/20553/the-language-of-self-driving-cars-is-dangerous-heres-how-to-fix-it>).

Controversial or not, the Model 3 is already one of the nation's bestselling vehicles, and Tesla just needs to figure out how to make more of them to boost its sales.

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)