Tesla and Polestar electric vehicle (EV) sales in Australia have fallen about 20% this year, according to data from the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC).
This aligns with a broader trend in total new vehicle sales which showed a continuing softening in demand compared with the same month last year, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
The EVC, the peak body representing the EV industry in Australia, said the two manufacturers sold 33,674 battery EVs in the year to the end of October 2024, down 19.5% from 41,851 in the equivalent period a year earlier.
This consisted of 32,214 Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) vehicles, 19.44% lower than a year earlier, and 1,460 Polestar (NASDAQ: PSNYW) vehicles, down 21.6%.
The trend was most pronounced in October with sales down 23%, the eighth consecutive monthly fall in sales.
The data does not cover other EV brands in Australia such as BYD (SHE: 002594) and MG, among many others in the EVC’s Australian Electric Vehicle Industry Recap 2023 report.
The FCAI said 99,091 new vehicles were delivered during November, 11.6% below the same period last year.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said November recorded another disappointing result for the sale of EVs while hybrid and plug-in hybrid accounted for 16.9% of sales compared with 9.9% last year.
He said EV makers were responding to regulatory settings mandating an increase in the number of zero emission vehicles by introducing new products.
“However, consumers remain cautious about making the shift to pure EVs and instead are purchasing hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles,” Weber said in a statement.