Are Tesla Sales Slowing?

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The mainstream media would have us believe that demand for electric cars is stagnating. They will no doubt be encouraged by the drop in Tesla sales from March to April. In April 2024, Tesla Australia delivered 2077 vehicles (1166 Model Y and 911 Model 3), down from over 6000 in March. But if we compare April (first month of a quarter) with Australian Tesla deliveries in January 2024 (first month of a quarter), we can actually see an improvement. Only 1,107 Teslas were delivered in January 2024. It's the month-on-month numbers that are scary. In March, 6,017 Teslas hit the road. Could it be that we'll see the same uptick as the quarter progresses? Once again we have to look at the longer term.

Here's a reasonable one honest interview from Australia ABC about the future of the EV market compared to hybrids:

“The Australian new car market continues to strengthen. Despite the 'cost of living', more than 18% more cars were sold in April 2024 than in April 2023. According to figures from Statistics Netherlands, more than 92,000 new cars were sold. car expert. However, the vast majority of these required fossil fuels. Not only that, demand for hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) exceeded demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). With over 17% of household income being spent on transport (petrol once again costs more than AU$2 per litre), you'd think more people would be turning to electric vehicles.

“Compared to April 2023, hybrid sales increased by 194.5 percent to 16,466 sales, while plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales increased by 138.5 percent to 1,300 sales. In contrast, electric vehicle sales fell 5.1 percent from last April, with 6,194 sales – heavily impacted by a 43.5 percent year-on-year decline for EV leader Tesla. This resulted in a market share of 6.4 percent for electric vehicles, compared to 7.9 percent in April 2023.” It looks like Toyota handled a lot of backorders in April – let's see if that continues for the rest of the year. Including PHEVs, the plug-in share was almost 8%, the same as the 2023 average.

Looking at the medium term, year to date figures show that BEV deliveries are up 32% (to 31,662), but HEVs are still winning the race with over 5,000 sales and up 138%. PHEV sales increased by 135%, for a total of 4,726 deliveries. Best Selling BEVs in Australia April 2024 goods:

1. Tesla Model Y (1,166 sold in April) – 7,956 to date
2. Tesla Model 3 (911) – year to date 6,865
3. BYD stamp (811) – year to date 2,384
4. MG4 (476) – 1,811 so far
5. BYD Atto 3 (418) — 2,638 so far
6. BMW i4 (206) — year to date 663
7. BYD Dolphin (181) – year to date 869
8. Volvo XC40 Recharge (140) — year to date 584
9. Hyundai Kona Electric (127) – 629 so far
10. Kia EV6 (132) — year to date 721

If you compare this to the March rankingsThere is little change among the participants. On the petrol podium, the Toyota RAV4 took gold (with 5,857 deliveries), while the Ford Ranger was in second place (5,569 deliveries), and in third place is Toyota again with the Hilux (4,693 deliveries). Australia is still heavily addicted to large trucks that run on diesel and petrol.

Outside the top ten we find the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV (113 deliveries), Polestar 2 (100), GWM Ora (80), Toyota BZ4X (74 – that's 385 for the year so far!), Kia EV9 ( 61), Mustang Mach-e (42), Cupra Born (41) and Hyundai IONIQ 6 (37). In addition, 1,707 MG ZS were sold, but it is not known how many of these were electric. It will probably be in the hundreds. Yes, I'm in the barracks for the Toyota BZ4X – we need more electric Toyotas on the road. Great Wall has once again lowered the price of the ORA. You can buy now two ORAs for the price of one Model 3and it's cheaper than a Corolla!

Speaking of price reductions, Peugeot has just announced a AU$25,000 discount on its flagship e-2008. That's a 40% discount. It is speculated that this is to clear stock before a new model arrives. The advanced electric version is cheaper than the petrol model – a brief glimpse into the future where electric cars will become cheaper than petrol cars and have a higher level of technology.

Good news from Australia's largest state: Western Australia has increased its availability discounts for BEVs (hybrids are excluded). The generous discount of AU$3,500 applies to BEVs costing less than AU$70,000. Thanks to recent price cuts, there are plenty of such cars available. Electric vehicle sales have quadrupled since the rebate was introduced in June 2022. To date, more than AU$20 million has been paid to applicants for the rebate.

According to Wikipedia, Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of ​​2,527,013 square kilometers (975,685 sq mi). That's three times the size of Texas. It covers about a third of the country, but has a sparse population of about 3 million.

Last month we told you about the visit to the local Toyota dealer and our test drive with their electric car. This month there is even more good news: the Model 3 Highland Performance is now available. We popped into the Brisbane showroom today to check it out. We were able to sit in it and chat with the salespeople, but they don't have any demonstrators available for test drives yet.

A little further away at the Volvo dealer it was the opposite story: they have several demonstrators of the EX30 ready. We received a lot of information about the car from the knowledgeable assistant manager. He was very enthusiastic, but apologized when we said we wanted a red one – the EX30 is not available in red. Considering the successful sales story coming out of Europe, I asked how sales were going. He told me the Brisbane dealer has 200 on order and nationally the figures are over 2,000. Hopefully the new Volvo will join its siblings in the top 10 by the end of the year.

My news feed seems to be full of conflicting headlines – “Hybrid lifeline for EV-challenged automakers”… “French automakers aim to quadruple electric vehicle sales by 2027”… “Here's why so many Republicans don't want electric cars will buy”… “Volvo Cars April sales increase thanks to strong demand.” And that's just today! Perhaps the auto industry is in self-inflicted turmoil. Here in Australia we are completely at the mercy of car importers. However, as more and more of them switch to electric cars, it promises to be an interesting electric future. More models are promised soon.