Few People Own a Sports Car

Tesla is set to unveil its new Roadster today, marking a return to the company’s roots. The very first vehicle Tesla ever sold was an electric sports car of this type. While the first-generation Roadster was produced between 2008 and 2012, the new so-called second-generation model is actually a brand new vehicle and the first totally new car Tesla has debuted in a long time.

Data from Statista Consumer Insights suggests that the Roadster 2.0 is unlikely to see mass market sales, however. In the United States, only 4 percent of respondents who have a car in their household drive a sports car, such as an Audi TT or a Porsche 911. Respondents in Canada and the United Kingdom have a stronger affinity for sports cars, albeit at a still low 5.6–5.7 percent fitting into the survey's owner category. Even the figure for Italy, the home of high-performance brands like Ferrari and Maserati, stands at less than three percent. For comparison, the predecessor Roadster model was only made approximately 2,450 times by Tesla.

Tesla has been hit with criticism over its strategy as investors and observers question its focus on niche releases like the Roadster and the Cybertruck, while competitors have been preparing a slew of new models to innovate and democratize EV markets globally. CEO Elon Musk had announced the new Roadster generation back in 2017, with production originally slated to begin as early as 2020.