It's a new year and there's a fresh (if familiar) leader following a fairly soft month of vehicle electric sales.
Snapshot
- BYD outsells Tesla in Australia for the first time ever
- EV sales share slips compared to last year
- Tesla deliveries impacted by quarantine and regulatory snags
Last year saw a 161 per cent increase in EV sales for a 7.2 per cent market share, though 2024 is off to a slower start with electric models accounting for 5.4 per cent of January's record 89,782 sales.
It can largely be attributed to a slow month for Tesla – thanks to shipping and compliance issues – that allowed China's BYD to leap ahead with 1310 registrations to Tesla's 1107.
There are a few new faces on the scene, with Subaru's Solterra, LDV's eDeliver 7 van and Renault's Megane E-Tech appearing in the charts for the first time.
Along with improved Tesla supply, these new vehicles – including Toyota's soon-to-arrive BZ4x and Volkswagen's electric midsize SUVs – are set to drive EV share up to the industry-anticipated 10 per cent by 2025.
Come 2025, the government's proposed New Vehicle Efficiency Standards will be enshrined, potentially bolstering EV sales.
Ahead of the standard, though, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber noted the continued success of combustion-engined utes and SUVs.
“The continuing preference for SUVs and utes demonstrates the challenges the Commonwealth Government is facing as it works to introduce a New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES)”, he said.
“Even with the current incentives offered by the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments, sales of battery electric vehicles appear to have plateaued during recent months", added Mr Weber
Model 3 takes first place despite delivery pause
Tesla's month may have been weak, but it's still the second-most popular EV brand with just two vehicles.
And the Model 3 took top spot (722, 🥇) in the face of a delivery pause to rectify centre seat top tether compliance issues.
Then came the BYD Seal, a newcomer electric sedan that's beginning to find its stride in the sales charts (589,🥈) likely due to its affordable price and impressive WLTP driving range figures.
Disappointingly for Model Y fans, the midsize SUV was knocked out of the top three by both the MG 4 small car (537,🥉) and BYD's Atto 3 small SUV (465).
It comes after a ship carrying Tesla's typically popular Model Y (384) was sent back from Brisbane to China in January after a quarantine check found yellow-spotted stink bugs onboard.
BYD managed to sneak another model into the top 10 in the Dolphin small car (256) ahead of the Kia EV6 (199, up 352%) which had an excellent January.
We're still waiting for on final Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric numbers, but with an estimated 166 sales based on prior sales splits, it should slip into seventh ahead of the Polestar 2 sedan (151), and MG ZS EV small SUV (111).
Supply of BMW's excellent i4 looks to be improving with the introduction of a new i35 base grade and its deliveries counted 93 in January ahead of the GWM Ora (88) and Mercedes-Benz EQA (62).
Vehicles that seemed to struggle in January included both of Hyundai's E-GMP-based products, the Ioniq 5 (48) and Ioniq 6 (42).
Top 10 best-selling electric vehicles in January 2024
Mind the (data) gap
We're still waiting for some manufacturers to confirm monthly sales figures for electric variants of combustion vehicles.
*Estimate based on prior sales performance
Rank | Make and Model | Jan 2024 | YTD 2024 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tesla Model 3 | 722 | 722 |
2 | BYD Seal | 589 | 589 |
3 | MG 4 | 537 | 537 |
4 | BYD Atto 3 | 465 | 465 |
5 | Tesla Model Y | 384 | 384 |
6 | BYD Dolphin | 256 | 256 |
7 | Kia EV6 | 199 | 199 |
8 | Volvo XC40 Recharge PE* | 166 | 166 |
9 | Polestar 2 | 151 | 151 |
10 | MG ZS EV | 111 | 111 |
And the rest...
BMW iX1* | 100 | 100 |
BMW i4 | 93 | 93 |
GWM Ora | 88 | 88 |
Mercedes-Benz EQA | 62 | 62 |
Mini Hatch* | 60 | 60 |
BMW iX3* | 60 | 60 |
Volvo C40 | 59 | 59 |
Ford Mustang Mach-E | 59 | 59 |
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV | 56 | 56 |
Hyundai Kona* | 50 | 50 |
Cupra Born | 49 | 49 |
Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 48 | 48 |
Kia EV9 | 47 | 47 |
Hyundai Ioniq 6 | 42 | 42 |
Kia Niro | 40 | 40 |
Porsche Taycan | 40 | 40 |
BMW iX | 24 | 24 |
Mercedes-Benz EQB | 24 | 24 |
Mercedes-Benz EQC | 20 | 20 |
Lexus RZ | 18 | 18 |
Audi e-tron | 15 | 15 |
Nissan Leaf | 14 | 14 |
Genesis GV60 | 12 | 12 |
Subaru Solterra | 11 | 11 |
Audi e-tron GT | 10 | 10 |
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV | 10 | 10 |
LDV eDeliver 7 | 8 | 8 |
Mercedes-Benz EQE | 7 | 7 |
LDV T60/T60 EV 4X2 | 4 | 4 |
Jaguar I-Pace | 2 | 2 |
Renault Megane E-Tech | 2 | 2 |
Mercedes-Benz EQS | 1 | 1 |
Lexus UX | 0 | 0 |
BMW i5* | 0 | 0 |
LDV eDeliver 9* | 0 | 0 |
Genesis Electrified GV70* | 0 | 0 |
BMW i7 | 0 | 0 |
Genesis Electrified G80* | 0 | 0 |
LDV Mifa9 | 0 | 0 |
Mercedes-Benz EQV | 0 | 0 |
Mazda MX-30* | 0 | 0 |
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