Porsche Taycan tops as Aussie EV sales boom

For the first time an electric car has emerged atop the monthly sales figure in a recognised Australian new vehicle sales segment.

And it will be stinging a couple of pretty well-known German luxury brands too.

The car with the bragging rights is the just-launched Porsche Taycan, which emerged number one in the “large car over $70,000” segment according to the March 2021 VFACTS sales figures issued by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

The Taycan topped the pile with 161 sales, pipping the Mercedes-Benz E-Class by just six sales, while the BMW 5-Series trailed along in a distant third with 31 examples sold.

The Taycan also turned out to be the second most popular Porsche as well, ahead of all bar the Macan SUV. It sits in that position year to date despite only starting to sell in any numbers in February.

But Porsche Cars Australia is admitting it will be impossible for Taycan to sustain these sales levels unless supply frees up.

“March 2021 was the first full month of Taycan deliveries in Australia,” a PCA spokesman explained. “Interest and demand has been very strong.

“We don’t have supply to sustain monthly sales numbers at the level seen in March. We are always in constant communication with Porsche AG in Germany to deliver cars to order holders as quickly as possible.”

Of course, Tesla might have topped the large car segment previously with the Model S, but it doesn’t report sales figures for VFACTS to publish.

It won’t be top dog now because the Model S is off-sale until 2022. As part of the recent update Tesla doesn’t appear to be delivering any new models – including the promised Model S Plaid and Plaid+ – until next year.

In a market on the bounce overall compared to COVID-impacted 2020, electric vehicle sales have more than doubled in the first three months of 2021 from 435 to 969.

If you want to find out more about the Taycan, which sells in Australia in three model variants starting at $190,400, check out our previews here and first drives here and here.

Porsche also recently unveiled the Taycan Cross Turismo that goes on sale in Australia in the third quarter of 2021.