Toyota counters Elon Musk’s boast with Grok’s support

Bending the truth slightly – something Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also known for – he claimed as early as 30 December on his social media platform: “Tesla Model Y is now officially the world’s best-selling car for the third year in a row!” However, the last time that the Model Y undisputedly held this title was in 2023. In 2024, the battery-electric SUV was narrowly overtaken by the Toyota RAV4, according to most sources. For 2025, two Toyota models are expected to lead the rankings.

This was reason enough for Toyota not to let the claim go unchallenged. This week, Robert Tickner, Toyota’s European Head of Communications, posted on LinkedIn: “Sorry Elon, but it’s just not true! Model Y was beaten by RAV4 in 2024.” He added: “And looks to be beaten by both RAV4 and Corolla in 2025 – at least according to Grok…”

The irony is heightened by the fact that Musk’s own chatbot refuted his statement. Grok is an intelligent language assistant integrated into Musk’s social media platform X and is also used in Tesla models. No further response from the Tesla CEO has been forthcoming yet.

x.com, linkedin.com