Tesla sold less than half of all new electric vehicles in Australia last month

Vehicles made by electric-car giant Tesla accounted for less than half of all new battery-powered vehicles sold in Australia throughout November – though the slump is expected to be short-lived, due to the impending arrival of the new Model 3 sedan.

In November 2023, there were 8646 new electric vehicles sold in Australia across the passenger, SUV and light commercial categories.

Of the 8646 electric vehicles sold, 3939 were built by Tesla – representing a market share of 45.6 per cent.

It is down on the company's usual performance – however it is still a dominant result, and a figure not seen in the broader new-car market for decades, when there were far fewer types of cars on sale and large Holden and Ford sedans led the way.

While Tesla only began to report its new-car sales figures to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries from March 2022, the company has accounted for the vast majority of electric cars sold locally since Australian deliveries of the Model S began in late 2014.

Tesla has previously dipped below 50 per cent of the electric-car market share, though these brief drops were attributed to a gap in shipments arriving on Australian shores.

In the most recent case, the slump is due to the impending arrival of customer examples of the facelifted Tesla Model 3 sedan, providing the once-best-selling electric sedan with its most comprehensive upgrades in years.

Last month, the Tesla Model Y SUV contributed to the lion’s share of the brand’s 3939 local sales, with 3151 examples delivered – putting it comfortably ahead of the second-placed MG4 (835 sales), the outgoing Model 3 (788 sales), plus BYD’s Atto 3 (668 sales) and Dolphin (589 sales).

Despite the slight dip in sales, Tesla continues to lead the electric-car market year-to-date, with its 43,924 models delivered between January and November 2023 representing 54.6 per cent of the 80,446 battery-powered vehicles sold this year.

Tesla is also the eighth-best-selling new-car brand in Australia, sitting ahead of Subaru and Isuzu in the top 10 rankings despite offering just two models to local buyers.

It is expected the new Tesla Model 3 will further boost the brand’s sales next year and put it on track to reach 50,000 deliveries in Australia for the first time, given its year-to-date deliveries are up 150 per cent on last year.