Tesla has seen its sales dive in the month of July, after two months of strong recovery off the back of the new Tesla Model Y.
The latest data from the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) reports sales from EV specialist companies Tesla and Polestar, with Tesla scoring just 917 sales in July, down from 4,589 sales in June, and 2,592 in the same month last year.
The biggest drop was seen in Model Y sales, which went from 3,457 sales during June and 1,353 in July last year down to just 555 sales, while the Model 3 accounted for 362 sales.
Tesla sales often drop in the first month of a new quarter, but the scale of the fall in this latest month of July will spark speculation as to the cause. It does not appear to be the result of low inventory. In July, 2024, Tesla posted 2,592 sales.
The latest data comes only days after Tesla announced further incentives with a $3,000 lending incentive and a $3,000 novated lease incentive available for those looking at buying a new Model Y.
On top of that, the trade-in incentive is still available to those looking to buy a new Tesla. Until 30 September 2025, interested buyers of a new or demo Model Y will receive an additional $2,000 off the price of that car when trading in a used vehicle.
To help existing owners consider a new Tesla, the company is giving existing owners of Tesla EVs with enhanced autopilot or full-self-driving (FSD) software to be able to transfer it to a new or demo Tesla until the end of September.
This hints at a possible demand gap for the new Model Y with the number of incentives on offer, only months after the first deliveries of the highly anticipated models began in May.
Getting back to the latest sales report, Polestar saw 230 sales in July, which was also down from 339 in the month before, across its three models.
The Polestar 3 had its second-lowest month for the year with only 3 sales measured across July.
With increased competition in the market, particularly on the more affordable end, sales of both Tesla and Polestar models are starting to taper off.
Tesla has been working on a more affordable model, which is expected to be sold in the Chinese and the US markets initially.
A fortnight ago, Tesla confirmed that it will be pushing back volume production of its affordable models into the second half of this year, after previously revealing that it was likely to be in the first half of 2025.
At the company’s Q2 earnings call in July, the Tesla team highlighted that due to the incentives in the US ending in Q3, the company has shifted focus to producing more Model Ys for customers instead of ramping production of a new product, which could be quite complex in its initial ramp.
It’s unclear if that model is likely to see a local launch before the end of the year, but if it was, then it could help bring some much-needed boost to the company’s regional sales tally to finish the year off.
Data from the FCAI, using figures from most of the other car makers operating in Australia, is expected to be released on Tuesday with deeper analysis from The Driven team to follow.
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.