This is big! The Tesla Model Y just outsold the Ford Ranger to become Australia’s second best-selling vehicle
The Tesla Model Y continues to dominate sales of premium SUVs – and electric cars – with an unprecedented sales surge reported in the June 2023 vehicles sales figures.
The official VFACTS figures show the Model Y all-electric mid-sized SUV was the second best selling car in the country – and by far the top selling medium SUV.
With 5560 sales in a single month the Model Y was outsold only by the Toyota Hilux ute (6142 sales).
In what is a typically strong month for utes – as businesses buy up at the end of the financial year – the Model Y sales number is a strong result for any SUV, especially as it outsold the Ford Ranger in the process (5334).
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That it was achieved by an electric car with pricing starting at around $70,000 is astonishing – and is a result that would no doubt send shivers through the sales departments of many traditional brands.
The Model Y accounted for 20 percent – one in five – of all mid-sized SUV sales.
For a market segment that includes heavy hitters such as the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mercedes-Benz GLC and BMW X3 it’s an unexpectedly solid result.
That it occurred before Tesla effectively shaved about 10 percent off the price of the Model Y (almost $4000 in direct price reductions and the rest in access to rebates for most parts of the country) suggests Model Y sales could head north from their current levels.
The fledgling BYD Atto 3 electric SUV managed a respectable 1532 sales, cementing it as the sixth best selling mid-sized SUV.
It means than more than one in four mid-sized SUVs – one of the biggest categories in the Australian market – is now powered purely by electricity.
Combined with 1458 Model 3 sales – making the Tesla Model 3 once again the top selling passenger car – it gave Tesla a still-dominant 64 percent of the EV market.
It also made Tesla the eighth best selling brand, even though it only sells two models.
All up there were 11,042 electric cars registered as sold in Australia in June 2023. That means EVs now account for 8.8 percent of overall sales.
