For the first time in Australia, there have been more than 10,000 new electric vehicles sold in Australia in a single month. This is substantial growth year-on-year, with 10,111 in Feb 2024 compared to just 5,932 sales in Feb 2023. With the total vehicle sales in Feb 24 hitting 105,023, EVs represented 9.63% of overall sales, a new record in Australia.
Tesla’s refreshed Model 3 has helped the model shoot to position 3 on the individual model sales chart, selling 3,593 units. Tesla increased its market share to 5.4%, up from 4.0% just 12 months ago. The Model 3 came behind two popular Ute the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, perfectly demonstrating how much Australia loves its ute and how we still lack viable EV options for this vehicle segment.
Tesla’s manufacturer total accounted for 5,665 sales in the month of February.
- Tesla Model 3 – 3,593
- Tesla Model Y – 2,072
Other EVs sales for Australia in the month of February 2024 are:
- BYD Atto 3 – 711
- BYD Seal – 619
- MG MG4 – 446
- Volvo XC40 – 285
- BYD Dolphin – 219
- Toyota bZ4X – 208
- Kia EV6 – 192
- Kia Niro – 157
- BMW i4 – 128
- Polestar 2 – 113
- Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV – 110
- GWM Ora – 98
- Mercedes-Benz EQA – 91
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 84
- CUPRA Born – 69
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – 66
- Renault Megane E-Tech – 57
- Porsche Taycan – 43
- Kia EV9 – 39
- Nissan Leaf – 27
- Hyundai Ioniq 6 – 27
- Audi e-tron GT – 19
- Mercedes-Benz EQB – 16
- Mercedes-Benz EQC – 14
- LDV eDeliver7 – 12
- Mercedes-Benz EQE – 10
- BMW i7 – 5
- Foton Mobility T5 – 4
- Mercedes-Benz EQV – 3
- Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV – 2
- SEA Electric (MD) – 2
- Mercedes-Benz EQS – 1
- Jaguar I-Pace – 1
- LDV T60/T60 EV 4X2 – 1
Ford’s big ambitions to make an EV splash in Australia have faltered, selling just 66 units in February 2024. Having launched just a month earlier, the new nameplate has sold just 125 so far in 2024. It’s important to remember this comes on the back of a massive adjustment to price ahead of its launch, so had the original pricing remained, the situation would be even more challenging.
Internationally Ford is struggling to make EVs profitably, as such the lackluster response in the Australian market is likely to spark internal discussions about what to do with their approach in the short term, as the second-generation EV products are still some years away. If anything, it’s the F150 electric that Australia is craving, and would likely do much better in the sales charts, assuming the price was right.
BYD is doing quite well in Australia, firmly positioning itself in the number 2 position behind Tesla. The aggressive price on the BYD Seal helped them secure 1,549 sales.
Perhaps the most disappointing outcome is the LDV T60 EV Ute which made a big splash for being the first EV Ute on sale in Australia, now selling just 1 unit in February. With poor range and a high price, this was not the ute Aussie tradies were looking for.
Mercedes are also shipping an impressive number of nameplates into Australia, even if their sales numbers don’t suggest a profitable outcome.
The general observation from these sales numbers suggests that while we now see cheaper EV options in the market (in the $40k range), many EV customers are buying EVs that have higher price tags, but generally offer better range and better technology.
The February 2024 VFACTS sales data above is provided by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
