Tesla is having its best year of sales in Australia so far, with EV sales from the brand approaching 30,000 by the end of July according to data from FCAI.
It now appears that this quarter in particular will be one of the best so far. According to recent reports on Twitter/X from Tesla shipping tracking expert, VedaPrime, over 10 ships have arrived in Australia in the first two months of the quarter. The last of it was the roll-on-roll-off (RORO) vehicle carrier called Glovis Caravel.
The 10th #Tesla Australian ship to have arrived in Q3 2023 is Glovis Caravel
Have one on the way? Want to know where your Tesla is and the cause of delays ? Tracking & Predelivery service https://t.co/TpNS6cWmlr
Archive Image https://t.co/m8SOcZY9xB pic.twitter.com/MLGmJaDH6p
— VedaPrime (@VedaPrime) August 22, 2023
Last week, it was reported that another Tesla-carrying ship had delivered the largest number of vehicles in a single shipment to Western Australia.
A total of 749 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y had been unloaded from the port of Fremantle docked Crystal Ace vessel. The process to unload this shipment of Tesla took a couple of days according to reports from Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia.
On top of this large shipment, there are several indicators that point to higher sales this quarter. Looking at the sales for July alone, Tesla has sold nearly 4,000 cars in Australia. This is already up by 7% over April this year which was the previous first month of the quarter.
Looking specifically at the models and the popularity of Tesla’s SUV is clear. The Model Y leading the charts and selling more in than the Toyota Rav4.
To further support a higher growth this quarter, Tesla started this quarter in Australia with a large price drop on both its models. The Model 3 and the Model Y are now the cheapest they have ever been with prices reduced by $3,500 across multiple popular variants.
A Tesla Model 3 now starts at $57,400 before on-roads or state/territory rebates, while the Model Y which has dominated sales this year as Australia’s best-selling electric car has a starting price of $65,400 before on-roads.
The starting pricing of the Model Y helps it qualify for multiple state and territory subsidies, making it accessible to many more buyers.
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.