Data from ACAP – the Portuguese Automobile Association – shows that the American manufacturer led by Elon Musk registered 1,204 new license plates in September, representing a 17.5 percent increase compared to the same month in 2024. This includes passenger cars and ambulances.

This improvement can be partly explained by the arrival in Portugal of the latest Tesla Model Y update – announced in August, with deliveries beginning in September. Furthermore, the brand even managed to reach the top four in passenger car sales, considering all powertrains.

BYD took second place this time, with 460 units registered (53.3 percent more), while BMW rounded out the top five with 375 units (8.4 percent more).

The only decline in the top five was compared to September of last year – Mercedes-Benz, which took fifth place with 222 vehicles registered (26 percent less).

In a challenging year for Tesla in several countries and markets, the manufacturer leads sales in Portugal for the first nine months of the year, with 5,809 new registrations.

However, this represents a significant 19.6 percent drop compared to the same period last year, leaving Tesla at the mercy of BYD. The Chinese brand had 3,373 registrations (an 87 percent increase), just ten more than BMW (which increased 16.1 percent).

So far, only ten manufacturers have managed to reach the 1,000-plus electric vehicle sales mark this year in Portugal, with Audi leading the way with 1,129 new registrations—a 9.7 percent increase.

According to ACAP data, all-electric passenger cars grew 23 percent in September compared to the same month last year, with a total of 4,984 new units registered. Overall, the increase was 26.3 percent by the end of the ninth month, with 61,631 new registrations.

All-electric light-duty vehicles sold 349 in September (up 102.9 percent) and 2,400 in the first nine months (up 40.7 percent). In terms of heavy vehicles, 19 were sold in August and 172 so far this year (an increase of 77.3 percent).