In a further sign that Australia’s transition to an electrified automotive sector is gathering pace, the Tesla Model Y was the country’s third best-selling model in September.

The FCAI, the peak body for Australia’s automotive industry, said new vehicle sales figures for September revealed 7,247 battery electric vehicles (EVs) were sold during the month, surpassing the sales figures of hybrid and plug-in-hybrid combined (5,141).  

For the year to date, 21,771 battery electric vehicles have been sold, with FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber saying the number signalled that a growing number of Australians were committed to decarbonising their transport choices.

“While the overall market share of battery electric vehicles remains low (2.7%), there is a clear market trend towards zero-emission technology,” Mr Weber said.

A total of 93,555 vehicles were sold in September bringing the year-to-date total to 811,130, which represents a 12.3% increase on the same month in 2021.

The Toyota Hi-Lux was the highest-selling model with 5,170 sales, edging out Ford’s new Ranger ute with 4,890 sales, while Tesla’s battery electric Model Y compact SUV had a stellar month, its 4,359 sales securing the US car maker third place on the podium, ahead of Mazda’s CX-5 (2,439) and Mitsubishi’s Triton (2,319).

China’s growing share of our new car market was also evident in the September sales figures which showed the country was the third largest supplier of vehicles to the Australian market with 14,889 vehicles, trailing Thailand (20,363) and Japan (23,880).

While supplies of new cars to the Australian market are showing signs of improvement, Mr Weber cautioned that logistical and supply chain issues remained problematic as the global automotive market recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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