{"id":"1794079216646-tech-segment","slug":"musk-s-model-y-best-seller-claim","title":"Musk's Model Y best-seller claim","summary":"Elon Musk claimed the Tesla Model Y is the world's best-selling car. JATO data confirms the Model Y was #1 in 2023 with about 1.22 million units. For 2024, it was a near-tie with the Toyota RAV4, with most final data putting the RAV4 slightly ahead by roughly 2,000 units. For 2025, available first-three-quarter tracking and Q4 projections put the Toyota RAV4 at about 1.2 million units, the Toyota Corolla around 1.08 million, and the Model Y around 1.03 million—down 12-15% year over year. Tesla's Q4 2025 deliveries were 418,227, missing Wall Street consensus of 422,850.\n\nThe claim echoes Tesla's genuine 2023 success, but 2024 and 2025 were weaker for the Model Y. Tesla does not break out Model 3 vs. Model Y deliveries, which makes the claim hard to immediately disprove and lets the narrative linger. Toyota had stronger multi-market sales, and softer EV demand plus the fading U.S. federal EV tax credit weighed on Tesla.\n\nThe Model Y was the world's best-selling passenger vehicle in 2023, but not for three consecutive years. For 2024, it was in a near-tie with the Toyota RAV4, with most final data putting the RAV4 slightly ahead; for 2025, available data and projections show the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla outselling the Model Y.","publishedAt":"2026-11-07T19:20:16.646Z","channel":{"id":"tech","name":"Oncast Tech","language":"en"},"show":"Machines","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"FALSE","notes":"FALSE: The Model Y was the world's best-selling passenger vehicle in 2023, but not for three consecutive years. For 2024, it was in a near-tie with the Toyota RAV4, with most final data putting the RAV4 slightly ahead; for 2025, available data and projections show the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla outselling the Model Y.\nSource: [electrive.com](https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/13/toyota-counters-elon-musks-boast-with-groks-support/), [electrek.co](https://electrek.co/2025/12/31/elon-mu (https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2119146526899396725)","claims":[{"verdict":"FALSE","summary":"The Model Y was the world's best-selling passenger vehicle in 2023, but not for three consecutive years. For 2024, it was in a near-tie with the Toyota RAV4, with most final data putting the RAV4 slightly ahead; for 2025, available data and projections show the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla outselling the Model Y.","sourceName":"[electrive.com](https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/13/toyota-counters-elon-musks-boast-with-groks-support/), [electrek.co](https://electrek.co/2025/12/31/elon-mu","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2119146526899396725","claim":"Most people don’t know that the best-selling car in the world is the Tesla Model Y. And the second and third best-selling cars are much cheaper. https://t.co/RpNkXhLsPa","author":"Elon Musk (@elonmusk)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2119146526899396725","name":"[electrive.com](https://www.electrive.com/2026/01/13/toyota-counters-elon-musks-boast-with-groks-support/), [electrek.co](https://electrek.co/2025/12/31/elon-mu","kind":"x","verdict":"FALSE","author":"Elon Musk (@elonmusk)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794079216646-tech-segment-musk-s-model-y-best-seller-claim","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/tech","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1794079216646-tech-segment-musk-s-model-y-best-seller-claim","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1794079216646-tech-segment-musk-s-model-y-best-seller-claim and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Chris","text":"Elon just posted on X that the best-selling car in the world is the Tesla Model Y."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Not for three years running, like the quote he shared says."},{"host":"Chris","text":"He didn't say three years himself—he quoted X Freeze."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"He shared it as fact. JATO data says Model Y was number one in 2023, about 1.2 million."},{"host":"Chris","text":"So the core claim was true once."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"In 2024 it was a near-tie, with most final data putting the RAV4 slightly ahead."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Two thousand out of a million? That's a rounding error."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's second place. And for 2025, projections have RAV4 and Corolla both ahead."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Still, Model Y at around a million units is incredible for a five-year-old EV."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It is. But the post says best-selling in the world right now. That's false."},{"host":"Chris","text":"He didn't pull it from nowhere. The Model Y really was number one in 2023."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"He's not stretching it. This is how false car-sales claims stick: say it enough, people believe it."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Oh come on, Toyota's comms head already used Grok to dunk on him."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Robert Tickner said, \"Sorry Elon, but it's just not true! Model Y was beaten by RAV4 in 2024, and looks to be beaten by both RAV4 and Corolla in 2025.\""},{"host":"Chris","text":"And Toyota would never spin a sales number."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Fair. But they have the registrations. Electrek called the claim disconnected from reality."},{"host":"Chris","text":"My point is the Model Y did something no EV had ever done. That's worth remembering."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"I'll give you 2023. But the false boast now hurts Tesla's credibility right when delivery numbers slipped."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Tesla delivered 418,000 in the fourth quarter, missed Wall Street by about four thousand. So he reaches for an old trophy."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The U.S. federal EV tax credit faded. That's a real headwind."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fair point."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Exactly. Second place is still second place, Chris."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Fine, I'll take 2023. But RAV4 winning by two thousand isn't a rout."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's enough to make the post false."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And he credited Grok for that. The AI debate writes itself."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Grok didn't make the data; it repeated the registrations. That's the part Musk ignores."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Alright, I'll retire the trophy. It's a false claim."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Different corner of the machine world. A post on X says Agility Robotics just became the first U.S. pure-play humanoid robotics company on a public exchange."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Agility—the Oregon maker of the Digit humanoid? That'd be a real moment."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"The account Words Have Meaning says it started trading on Nasdaq as AGLT after a business combination in November."},{"host":"Chris","text":"I haven't seen confirmation from Agility or Nasdaq. That's a claim, not a done deal yet."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Right, we can't verify it. But if true, retail investors finally get a clean humanoid bet."},{"host":"Chris","text":"That's the thing—a pure-play robotics stock with no profitable product yet. It's a story stock."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Isn't that how new industries get funded? Boston Dynamics and Figure had to start somewhere."},{"host":"Chris","text":"They had deep pockets. A public listing is also a way to hand retail risk."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Agility's Digit is reportedly in warehouse pilots, not just renders."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Pilots aren't profits. I want to see the annual filing."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"You and every short seller."},{"host":"Chris","text":"If the listing is real, I'll watch the lockup expiration."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Here's a supply-chain take from Greg on X: LG Innotek, the company behind iPhone camera modules, could own humanoid vision."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's an investment pitch dressed as analysis."},{"host":"Chris","text":"Maybe, but humanoids need a pile of cameras and 3D sensors built at scale. LG Innotek already does that for phones."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"It's not the same. A robot needs real-time depth and calibration, not just phone lenses."},{"host":"Chris","text":"But the manufacturing know-how transfers. That's the bull case."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Bull case, sure. But there's no humanoid line item in revenue today."},{"host":"Chris","text":"For now it's a supplier story. It's more interesting to follow than a pure-play startup."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"That's fair—suppliers make money even when the robots don't."},{"host":"Chris","text":"And when the robots finally work, they'll buy more of everything. But that day isn't here."},{"host":"Matilda","text":"Right now, the parts makers are earning on robots that don't yet work."}]}