Newcomer brands and luxury marques are dominating booming electric car sales as mainstream players struggle to match the pace of a fast-evolving EV market.
The top three selling electric vehicles in Australia in 2023 were from Tesla and BYD, between them accounting for two-thirds of the 87,217 electric cars sold, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Of the top 10 selling EVs, only two mainstream brands – MG and Kia – had cars on the leader board, with the likes of Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai and Nissan nowhere to be seen.
And prestige and luxury brands accounted for 70% of EV sales, with Volvo (35.5% of its sales being EV), Mercedes-Benz (13.1%), BMW (11.4%), Mini (12.9%) and Porsche (8.8%) above the industry average of 7.2% EV penetration.
A surprising 36% of all prestige and luxury cars are now powered by electricity, although the figure is dragged up by EV-only brands such as Tesla and Polestar.
In contrast, EVs from the top six selling brands in the country – Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Kia, Hyundai and Mitsubishi – accounted for a combined 6% of the electric car market; between them the sextet sold 617,582 cars in 2023 – more than half the entire new vehicle market that achieved a record 1,216,780 sales – but just 5,581 were EVs.
Many commercial vehicle segments, for example, do without a viable electric vehicle offering.
Delve into the passenger car and SUV figures, though, and there is a healthier EV story bubbling away.
The Tesla Model 3 is the top-selling sedan in the country, for example, easily outselling the once-dominant Toyota Camry that is tens of thousands of dollars cheaper.
The circa-$65,000 sedan has single-handedly breathed life into the medium four-door market in Australia that many brands have abandoned.
Add in the rival Polestar 2 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 and electric cars accounted for 62% of all medium cars priced above $60,000, shading former market leaders from Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.
Include mainstream models such as the Camry and EVs are approaching half the medium segment, at 42%.