Price cuts in Aussie EV aisle
Pencils are being sharpened across the automotive industry as manufacturers respond to softening new car demand.

With some commentators predicting 2025 will see a softening in demand for new vehicles off the back of record sales in 2024, brands including BYD, Nissan and Chery have responded by introducing early-season price cuts on popular models.
Chinese carmaker BYD was one of the first out of the blocks, announcing a range of price cuts across its rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) range in mid-January.
The brand’s Australian distributor EVDirect revealed a pricing shake-up across key models amounting to reductions of several thousand dollars in some cases.
The repriced BYD range now starts from $29,990 thanks to the introduction of a new variant of the Dolphin electric hatch dubbed Essential.
The new variant replaces the former mid-grade Dynamic which has been discontinued, with the MY25 Dolphin Essential shaving $6,900 from the price of the MY24 Dolphin Dynamic. This makes it one of Australia’s most affordable EVs.
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The range-topping MY25 Dolphin Premium has also had a $5,900 haircut, with the MY25 model now priced at $36,990.
It’s a similar story with BYD’s popular Atto 3 electric SUV, which has discontinued the $44,990 MY24 Standard variant, replacing it with the MY25 Essential, priced at a sharper $39,990.
The range-topping Atto 3 Premium is now priced at $44,990 in MY25 guise, representing a $2,509 price reduction on its MY24 predecessor.
There are price cuts across the entire MY25 BYD Seal mid-size electric fastback sedan range, too, including the Seal Dynamic now priced at $46,990 (-$2,898), Premium at $52,990 (-$2,808), and Performance at $61,990 (-$3,758).
Not to be confused with the fully electric BYD Seal, the BYD Sealion 6 is a plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) that’s also had a price reduction on the entry-level MY25 Dynamic variant, which is now at $45,990 (-$3,000).
The Shark 6 ute was the only BYD model not to receive a price cut in the latest round of adjustments, perhaps due to its reported strong take-up, with BYD reportedly taking more than 5,500 orders for Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute since the order books opened in October last year.
The Nissan Leaf+ is now $44,990 driveaway.
Nissan Australia is another brand that has also been wielding the scalpel on pricing, albeit in a more focused way, announcing deep cuts on its Leaf electric hatchback.
The Leaf, which is in run-out ahead of the arrival of a new model later this year, has had a whopping $21,000 hacked off its usual driveaway price, falling from $50,990 recommended retail price (RRP) to a razor-sharp $34,990 driveaway for all remaining stock.
The price reduction relates to the standard-range Leaf which comes with a 39kWh lithium-ion battery and a claimed range of 270km (WLTP).
The more expensive Leaf+ has also had a price reduction but not by such a dramatic amount. The Leaf+ comes with a 49kWh battery, which delivers 385km of range on the WLTP cycle, and is now priced at $44,990 driveaway, where it was previously $61,490 (RRP).
When you consider that the on-road costs of both Leaf models previously added several thousand dollars to the RRP of each vehicle, the new driveaway offer looks especially sharp.
The Chery Omada E5 is available with a $6,000 bonus on all models.
Also joining the ranks of car brands cutting costs early in the new year is Chery Australia, which has announced what it describes as “a significant New Year bonus” on its Omoda E5 electric SUV.
Available for a limited but unspecified time, Chery is offering a $6,000 bonus on all E5 models, reducing the starting price for the small SUV to $36,990 (RRP) for the entry-level BX, down from the previous price of $42,990 (RRP).
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