Sales of the VW ID4 have risen 83 percent through August, giving the full-electric midsize SUV a slim lead over the Kodiaq from sibling brand Skoda.
Two of the closest segment races in Europe pit full-electric cars against models with internal-combustion engines.
The Tesla Model 3 leads the BMW 3 Series by 1,904 sales for the 2023 title of best-selling midsize premium car.
Tesla has pushed ahead of BMW in the key segment by increasing Model 3 sales 30 percent to 54,584 through eight months, based on preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce. While the Model 3 is on the rise, 3 Series sales were down 3.3 percent during the period.
The other tight race involves sibling models from Volkswagen Group for leadership in the midsize SUV category.
Through August, the battery-powered VW ID4 had a 3,073-unit lead over the Skoda Kodiaq.
VW has the lead thanks to an 83 percent sales gain. The Kodiaq is also having a good year, with sales up 23 percent after eight months.
EV rise continue
Big gains by the Tesla Model Y (+198 percent), the ID4 and VW ID3 (+89 percent) and continued strong demand for the MG4 boosted overall European battery-electric vehicle sales by 51 percent to 1,195,466 through August.
That's a gain of 405,335 sales on the same period last year.
Combined sales of the Model Y and Tesla Model 3 accounted for 17.4 percent of all battery-electric vehicle sales after eight months. That is down slightly from 17.6 percent after seven months.
The MG4 has added 41,196 sales to the BEV total so far this year. The model from China's SAIC brand was the No. 5-selling BEV in Europe through August, moving up from sixth place after seven months. The MG4 was No. 8 in March, rose to seventh in April and climbed to sixth place in May.
The full-electric compact jumped over the Fiat New 500 and now leads its smaller full-electric rival by 648 sales.
