Iceland June 2023: Tesla Model Y breaks 35 year-old annual volume record

Never had a single car sold that many units in a year in Iceland.

The Icelandic new light vehicle market drops -9.8% year-on-year in June to 2,563 units. This means the H1 2023 volume is up 10.1% to 10,266. Toyota (-12%) falls slightly faster than the market but retains the brands top spot with 21.8% share. Tesla goes from 1 sale in June 2022 to 425 this month and ranks #2 with 16.6% share. The rest of the Top 5 carmakers all post year-on-year gains: Dacia (+69.8%) is the most dynamic followed by Kia (+18%) and Suzuki (+2.5%). In contrast the rest of the Top 10 all lose ground, with Volvo (-3.9%) keeping its fall below the market rate but Skoda (-15%), Volkswagen (-36.2%), Mercedes (-50.5%) and most strikingly Hyundai (-78.5%) all struggling.

Model-wise, we have a major event this month. Selling almost 400 units in June for a 15.3% market share, the Tesla Model Y reaches 1,347 sales over H1. This is the largest volume ever reached by any model in Iceland annually. And that record was beaten in just 6 months. The previous best was hit by the Toyota Corolla 35 years ago in 1988 with a little over 1,200 sales… The Dacia Duster takes the second spot with an impressive 13.3% share and at 775 sales after 6 months could also beat the 1988 Corolla mark by the time 2023 comes to an end. Three Toyotas follow to round out the Top 5: the RAV4, Land Cruiser Prado and Yaris.

Previous month: Iceland May 2023: Tesla Model Y dominates, Toyota bZ4X up to #4

One year ago: Iceland June 2022: Dacia Duster leads above 3 Toyotas, Land Rover Defender #7, sales up 35.5%

Full June 2023 Top 43 All brands and Top 20 models below.