Electric vehicle sales from two of Australia’s best performing EV brands have gotten off to a poor start in the new financial year, with falls for both Tesla and Polestar in the latest month.
Data from the Electric Vehicle Council shows just 2,592 Tesla EVs were sold in Australia in the month of July, down 34.1 per cent from 3,934 in the same month of 2023.
Polestar sales fell even further, down 70 per cent to just 103 for the month, although the brand is gearing up for the imminent release of the Polestar 3.
The data has been released by the EVC as Tesla and Polestar are no longer members of the main car lobby in Australia, the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries, after a falling out over the response to the federal government’s vehicle emission standards.
The FCAI is due to release what will now be only partial EV sales data from its members early next week.
Tesla has sold 25,708 EVs in Australia so far in 2024, according to the EVC data, down from 29,514 in the same period in 2023. It remains the dominant player in the Australian EV market, although Chinese brands led by BYD and MG are gaining ground and prices are becoming more competitive, with significant price cuts and other deals announced this week.
Sales of the Tesla Model Y are about steady, at 12,169 for the seven months in the year to date, a fall of just 13 units from the same period last year, while the Model 3 has fallen 22 per cent to 13,539 units, down from 17,332 in the year ago period.
The Polestar 2 sold just 91 units in the month of July, down from 307 in the same period last year, and has sold 1,041 in the year to date, down 28 per cent from 1,450 in the same period in 2023.
The data reveals that 12 Polestar 3 EVs have been sold, but these are likely to be test, demo and possibly media cars ahead of its formal release.
Interestingly, Victoria overtook NSW in the month of July to become the biggest seller of Tesla and Polestar cars, with Western Australia the only state to boost its numbers – from 264 in July last year to 313 in July this year.
However, all states are down on the year to date data, with NSW retaining its lead – although the Norther Territory boosted its numbers to 71 Tesla and Polestar sales in the first seven months of the year, up from 62 in the same period a year earlier.
See The Driven’s month by month sales data for full updates. (It will be updated earlier next week with the release of the FCAI data).
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.