<P> In 2013, the Model S became the first electric car to top the monthly new car sales ranking in any country, twice leading in Norway, in September and December 2013 and also in Denmark in December 2015 . Global Model S sales passed 250,000 units in September 2018 . The U.S. is its leading market, with about 119,000 units delivered through December 2017 . </P> <P> The Tesla Model S was the top selling plug - in electric car worldwide in 2015 and 2016, and by the end of 2017 continued to rank as the second most - sold electric car in history after the Nissan Leaf . </P> <P> The Model S was styled by Franz von Holzhausen, who previously worked for Mazda North American Operations . The car was codenamed WhiteStar during research and preliminary development . It was officially announced in a press release on June 30, 2008 . The prototype vehicle was displayed at a press conference on March 26, 2009 . Exclusive premier of their Model S electric car was held at their Menlo Park store on April 8, 2009 . </P> <P> In February 2008 it was reported that Tesla, Inc. (then Tesla Motors) was planning to offer a range - extended version of its Model S . This version would have included a gasoline engine to extend the driving range of the vehicle, but it was removed in later revisions . At the GoingGreen conference in September 2008 Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, announced that Tesla was developing only electric cars . </P>

When was the first tesla model s made
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