Electric car sales have dipped in the month of July, following a strong result in June, which may explain why the EV price war is continuing with the country’s three biggest electric brands now all offering significant discounts.
The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council shows that 6,743 full-battery EVs were sold in Australia in July – a share of just 6.6 per cent in a market that is otherwise at record levels of more than 100,000.
The data is now harder to follow for electric vehicles following the decision by the two specialist EV makers Tesla and Polestar to quit the main car lobby, the FCAI, and report their figures only to the EVC.
Last Friday, we reported a significant fall in both Tesla and Polestar sales for the month of July, and the FCAI data released on Monday for the rest of the market suggests that other EV models have also reported weaker numbers for the later month.
EV sales had remained above 8,000 vehicles for most part of the year, and were above 9 per cent of the new car market earlier this year. But hybrids and plug in hybrids are now more popular, both doubling their market share in July compared to a year ago, and now accounting more than 20 per cent of the new car market.
Looking into the EV model sales, as we reported on Friday, Tesla once again led with its Model Y remaining Australia’s best-selling EV during the month. The Tesla Model Y saw 1,353 sales, significantly lower than the 2,906 sales in the previous month.
The Test Model 3 took the second spot with 1,239 sales, also below the 1,777 sales it had during June.
BYD models came in after the two Tesla EVs with the BYD Seal sedan selling 570 units and the Atto 3 electric SUV selling 434 in July.
The fifth spot was taken by one of the newest electric models from Volvo, the EX30 which once again did well with 313 sales in July.
The MG4 fell out of the top 5 during the month with 307 sales, despite being one of the lower cost EVs on the market. In early August, the brand further cut prices to keep the momentum of its EV sales going for the rest of the year.
Polestar had a quieter month with just 91 sales of the Polestar 2. Surprisingly, Polestar’s second model, the Polestar 3 electric SUV also made up the figures with about 12 sales hinting at customer deliveries and test drives in the coming months.
The best-selling EVs in July 2024 were:
- Tesla Model Y – 1353 sales
- Tesla Model 3 – 1239 sales
- BYD Seal – 570 sales
- BYD Atto 3 – 434 sales
- Volvo EX30 – 313 sales
- MG MG4 – 307 sales
- BYD Dolphin – 226 sales
- BMW i4 – 158 sales
- Kia EV6 – 158 sales
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 128 sales
- Toyota bZ4X – 92 sales
- Polestar 2 – 91 sales
The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers for sales of some EV models and this list will be updated once they’re received. These include numbers for the ZS EV.
“While the first seven months of 2024 have exceeded expectations, the industry remains cautious about the future pending the implementation of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard coupled with the economic conditions,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber said in a statement.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our data base here.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
Another disappointing month for EV sales yest the ICE vehicle sales reported through the FCAI showing a move up in most non-EV vehicle types particularly with “Light Commercial” AKA “Utes”. It seems the desire in Australia is for more even larger vehicles.
There is a lot of resistance and misinformation from the likes of the Fossil Fuel companies, the Main Stream Media and the traditional car manufacturers to the uptake of EVs. And unfortunately it is at least partially effective.
But keep in mind that in the largest car market in the world, China, EVs (including plug-in hybrids) have almost reached the majority of all car registrations. The transition has a tremendous pace, which is why especially Japanese and American car manufacturers are struggling to keep afloat.
You kidding? Did you see Toyota’s financial results? And you do realise there’s only 3 EV focused OEMs that make money globally?
I regard your comment as laden with misinformation
Kodak was profitable until 5 years before it was bankrupt
Microsoft was profitable up to and including 5 years before it had the largest market capitalisation of any publicly listed company on the planet
Worldwide Toyota sales were down 5.1% in June. Thats the fourth consecutive month.
Yes they are ripping the 94.9% for much more to hold on to profits.
And how was their profit report? And how was Tesla’s profit report?
Is there a profit breakdown on their EVs? No profit there and considering how much they have dropped the price of Bz4x, sales aren’t too impressive.
Toyota is one of the most heavily indebited company in the world. Their trading profit might be in the black but its all smoke and mirrors. A lot of other OEMs are moving into hybrid models which will take the momentum away from Toyota.
“Most indebted” is not the same as “bad credit”. Do you know their credit rating?
I know Toyota has a lot of work to do in EVs. Toyota knows it has a lot of work to do in EVs too! But quite frankly the electrification landscape is now favouring Toyota’s approach more than ever
Just because you don’t like Toyota’s moral culpability associated with blocking EVs, doesn’t mean you can wish them into financial oblivion. They’re very well placed to survive the EV transition, if only because their profitability buys them time and their ability to form JVs reduces capital investment
Toyota owes a lot of money. And their sales in china, which is what I guess Kamil was talking about, are not too good at all. Toyota is going to use BYD tech, to try to make it so their hybrids stay competitive!!
This analysis is thoroughly incomplete. What’s Toyota’s credit rating? How much profit does Toyota derive from the Chinese market compared to the rest of its business? Do you know what other JVs Toyota has? How is Toyota worse off for having a JV with BYD than not?
Your metric about China is important in this context. Now i know many Purists out there tut tut but the fact is Automotive Engineers, Economonic and Financial houses classify EVs this way.
BEV’s 6783
PhEVs 2146
=EV’s 8909 Plug in EVs were up 16% on last year.
After 20 years of ho-hum interest, it seems the dealers are now flogging hybrids with great enthusiasm. Fortunately, the future is bright because Norway’s July numbers show hybrids and PHEV sales tanking — down 70% year on year.
With Battery prices falling significantly this year, these new prices are perhaps not unreasonable.
Tesla doesn’t have an alternative strategy as a result of failure to stay engaged in the industry at the marketing level . An ageing lineup promoted by an aggressive divisive CEO is smart behaviour.
Tesla in Australia simply can’t be taken seriously anymore.
Elons antics are an issue, but if I was considering a new EV the Model Y would be top of my list and I am waiting for the new version, cooled seats, improved ride and rear screen are great additions for Family SUV. I am sure once it is releasd Model Y sales will jump.
What antics? Musk is a very talented businessman, engineer and innovator, just what you’d want behind a car. Tesla is still the best product in the field.
I would say Twitter purchase, Calling the cave diver who rescued the Thai soccer team a Pedo, supporting Trump are all actions that did little for His and Tesla’s name especially with the Tesla customer base.
A free speech platform alienates the Tesla customer base? I don’t think so. What is this hyper-sensitive customer base? Has it been researched and defined? I would think that it’s a broad spectrum of people. As for the political views of the proprietor, the former owner of Twitter and owners of Meta and other social media platforms are declared Democrat supporters. Has that affected the Tesla customer base? I call nonsense.
There is good evidence that Musk’s statements and behaviour do negatively affect potential customers, as well as creating generally negative views of him among large sections of the community in many countries. Here are just two relevant links. Make of it what you will.
Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk’s reputation dips
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/would-be-tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-reputation-dips-2024-04-01/
and
Exploring Elon Musk’s favorability across 17 international markets
https://business.yougov.com/content/47829-exploring-elon-musks-favorability-across-17-international-markets
I still see that as unquantifiable. It would be interesting to see similar analysis of how many won’t buy Chinese brands because the manufacturers are owned by the Communist Party of China. There’s always been plenty of comment on that.
So what other vehicle companies are installing charging infrastructure? And then opening it up to opposition vehicles. Even Governments and motoring organisations combined don’t come close. I guess it’s difficult for some to “take seriously” the company that has the current world’s best selling car, that also happens to be electric. Seems like an ill informed comment.
AMPOL and BP come to mind, and Jolt, Evie and Chargefox.
if those who want this to increase then they need to extract the digit and get moving on V2G technology and stop faffing around with numbers.
Yes, yes.
Do ICE sale numbers now!
Many brands and models will be here next year, people could be holding out until they get here.
Yes, lowering prices could actually put off buyers as they look forward to more price reductions to come.
Unless its a Hyundai / Kia, they are putting up the prices of their EVs, not sure why when the price of EV batteries have halved over the last 18 months.
I agree. There are a whole lot of SUV-type EVs on their way, some with dramatically longer ranges than we are accustomed to.
I think lot of people are waiting for the new models to arrive and the market to settle before committing to a particular model. There are so many EVs in the pipeline until the end of this year and early next year, it would be silly to get one now, unless one of the current models suits the need and/or really desperate for a new car. Otherwise, they join the waiting game for new models and prices.
Hey Riz, can you update the link to the table of all EVs sold to July, the link goes to last month’s list for YTD June, dated July 3, 2024
Poor charging infrastructure on your country road trips is holding alot of people back in getting an EV.
That’s perception, not reality.
EV infrastructure isn’t necessarily where the ICE relevant infrastructure is. So you can drive an ICE on a country road trip and not see EV chargers. Once you know where EV chargers tend to be, you see them everywhere.
Tesla Superchargers, for instance aren’t at roadhouses – they are typically in carparks in town centres near the main highways.
And near the better coffee shops, and parks.
Yet another click-bait headline from The Driven – “EV sales slump in Australia in July, prompting new round of electric price wars”. This article didn’t even mention a price war, let alone a “new round” of EV price wars. Disappointing,
As a high mileage inland traveler I can tell you that the infrastructure totally sucks. It’s a gamble to travel and that was ok during the early pioneering days but not in 2024. Too many regional centers have one crappy unreliable 50kW charger only it is nothing but a joke. Today at Warwick/QLD: 5 EV and one charger….3 hours later I was on my way again. Unacceptable.
Same issue for us, the single NRMA chargers which frequently break down and are spaced ~100km apart, sometimes have us wondering when we’ll have to find a motel and stay overnight somewhere unintended for a slow charge.
I found that there are 2 ways to approach inland long distance driving with an EV:
1 charge enough to get to next charger with 10 – 20% SOC spare or
2 charge enough to get to 2 chargers ahead, not just the next one incase its faulty or queued.
The 2nd approach isn’t always possible but I found that to be the better approach despite charging times being a little longer.
I’d like to purchase an EV. However, there’s no home charging option (apartment living …) and there are 4(!) for-me-feasible sort-of-fast chargers within 10km – in Northern Sydney (2 in St Ives and 2 in Hornsby) for a combined population of 250k(?) in the local suburbs. There are a couple more with 22/50 kW but that’s a joke if you have to rely on public charging, of course.
If you combine households in apartments and townhouses – that’s how much 25%(?) – who have to rely on public charging. The glacial speed of adding charging stations to supermarket parking and hotels is beyond me, really. What is the gov thinking? That their hot air will fuel cars?
So the next one will be a hybrid or a diesel again.
Ah… Goondiwindi….Still NO charger.
Please send those responsible for this mess to the moon.
If you take the Model 3 out of the equation then sales are still up compared to July 2023. This could just be about the Model 3 losing its shine. Looking forward to some cheaper cars from Tesla (with indicator stalks personally ;))
I’ve got the new Model 3 – the lack of indicator stalks was an issue for me until I tried it – now I can confidently use the buttons without thinking about it.
If they push the changes they made in the Model 3 to the Model Y, Tesla will dominate – the new Model 3 is so quiet and it deals with bumps and potholes really well.
I can almost guarantee future cheaper Teslas will use the same buttons, as it’s cheaper to fit a car with buttons over stalks.
but it seems to be a deal breaker for a lot of people despite them never trying it.
And that’s what I don’t like – Telsa is compromising driver ergonomics and hence safety for a minor cost saving.
Remarkable story Riz master. Less fossil fuel cars on the road is better for the environment.
Can we have a clear summary of ‘how EV sales are going’ please!
Monthly sales numbers are lumpy, and if the largest brand (Tesla) is playing hide-the-numbers, it all gets far to muddy to see the big picture.
How about “TOTAL EV sales” for:
2023Q1
2023Q2
2023Q3
2023Q4
2024Q1 (and YoY difference as a percentage)
2024Q2 (and YoY difference as a percentage)
If quarterly is too difficult, or too volatile to be meaningful, use half year instead.
For Australia, and for the globe in total.
We keep hearing that EV sales have stalled, or perhaps haven’t stalled, or might even be increasing, or is it decreasing, or maybe just here, but perhaps globally too.
Some clearly presented facts would help.
Q2 last year was the most recent quarter with any significant sales growth in Australia:
2023 Q1: 17,396
2023 Q2: 25,696
2023 Q3: 22,651
2023 Q4: 21,474
2024 Q1: 25,552
2024 Q2: 25,353