Tesla Model 3 is Australia’s best-selling car
If we count the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger as the light commercial pickups they are, the best-selling car in Australia in 2023 so far is the Tesla Model 3.
Sales figures for the first month of the year, released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), show we bought 2,927 Model 3s in January.
Not only did this make the Tesla the only pure battery electric vehicle in the sales race top ten, but the only passenger car too. The rest of the list – typical of Australian buying habits – was made up of SUVs and pickups.
The Tesla Model Y SUV, meanwhile, shifted only 286 in January. This, of course, a reflection on availability rather than demand.
Why the strong sales?
Earlier this month Tesla dropped the Model 3’s price by up to $3100, and the Model Y’s by up to $3400. With seemingly every other car manufacturer bumping up prices to reflect more demand than supply, Tesla’s doing well at winning hearts and minds.
On its Australian website there are Model 3s in stock in most states, while delivery times for a custom order is between February and May 2023. If you custom order a Model Y (there are currently none in stock) the delivery estimate is between April and June this year.
Such strong availability has certainly aided the Model 3’s surge up the sales charts. The last few months have seen sales figures fluctuate wildly, determined by those delivery ships arriving.
In the previous five months, Model 3 monthly sales have read: 1806, 391, 33, 1610 and 2380. The Model Y, meanwhile, has gone 460, 1805, 1076, 4359 and 1017.
Other EV/PHEV/hybrid sales
The top ten sellers for January 2023 included the MG ZS, which has battery electric variants, and the Mitsubishi Outlander which has the plug-in hybrid PHEV model.
Battery electric, PHEV and hybrid sales combined made up a solid 12 per cent of January’s total market with 10,426 sales.
Full electric vehicles represented almost six per cent (4852 sales), with Tesla accounting for a dominating 3313 of that number.
Conventional hybrid sales were 5136 in January (the vast majority being Toyotas), while PHEVs registered 438 sales.
It’s hard to gauge popularity of a certain model EV due to demand typically overwhelmingly outstripping supply.
Sales numbers jump significantly – such as with the over-subscribed Hyundai Ioniq 5 – when a shipment comes in and the entire stock gets snapped up.
Based on January numbers alone, sales for the likes of Porsche’s Taycan – a car in mighty demand – are sorry indeed.
Battery EV sales for January 2023:
Tesla Model 3 – 2927
Tesla Model Y – 386
BYD Atto 3 – 267
Polestar 2 – 164
BMW iX – 95
Kia EV6 – 44
Nissan Leaf – 39
Audi e-tron GT – 33
Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 30
Mercedes-Benz EQC – 23
Mercedes-Benz EQE – 14
BMW i4 – 12
Mercedes-Benz EQA – 12
Genesis GV60 – 11
BMW i7 – 8
Porsche Taycan – 8
Audi e-tron – 6
Jaguar I-Pace – 4
Mercedes-Benz EQB – 3
Mercedes-Benz EQS – 1
