Tesla could also be Australia’s number-one electrical car (EV) model, but it surely has entered 2025 weakened as extra rivals appear to reach every single day. Nonetheless, the corporate says fiercer competitors is an efficient factor for the trade.
The American model’s gross sales have been in decline for the previous 12 months, throughout which era a number of rival producers have had time to both launch in Australia or deliver all-new fashions that compete straight in opposition to Tesla’s two-car catalogue Down Underneath.
BYD has launched its Sealion 7 to combat the Mannequin Y, whereas it has additionally had its Seal pitched in opposition to the Mannequin 3 for a while. Different manufacturers which have launched with Mannequin Y rivals embrace Deepal and its S07, Geely’s EX5, Leapmotor’s C10, and Sensible’s #1 – all from China, the place Tesla additionally builds its Australian-bound automobiles.
When requested about the specter of rising competitors, significantly from China, Tesla Australia nation director Thom Drew outlined that his model had a extra open stance.
“It retains us on our toes, I believe that’s the easiest way to take a look at it,” he informed CarExpert.
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He went on to say that the extra EV makers have been successfully aiding Tesla in its ambitions, stating the model’s “alternative has at all times been, since our early days, taking ICE automobiles off the highway.”
“Having increasingly EVs available in the market, while [competitors are] taking a slice of our pie, they’re all singing from the identical songbook; they’re all attempting to persuade Australians to purchase an EV, so that may be a optimistic factor for the trade,” he mentioned.
“Sure, it means we’ve to do extra to speak why our merchandise stay the most effective and actually get that message out, and it’s going to be a harder combat than it’s ever been. However I believe collectively within the trade, we’ve obtained an enormous alternative.”
To date in 2025, EV gross sales have made up only a small portion of total car deliveries. Of the 381,017 complete automobiles offered this yr, EVs have accounted for simply 23,911 – dwarfed by petrols (159,485), diesels (112,427) and hybrids (61,302), whereas additionally almost overwhelmed by plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) with 16,312.
Not one of the high 20 best-selling automobiles in April 2025 have been totally electrical, with 4 of the highest 5 powered by diesel engines. Even so, Mr Drew hopes Tesla and its rival EV producers may also help sway some patrons away from inner combustion.
“Take a look at the top-selling automobiles available in the market, if we are able to get them shopping for any EV, that’s a win from the very starting,” he informed CarExpert.
“Then we are able to hopefully proceed to persuade individuals to purchase [Tesla’s] merchandise.”
It’ll nonetheless be a steep hill for Tesla to climb, as April noticed it ship simply 500 automobiles for the complete month, nearly 76 per cent fewer EVs than it offered in the identical month final yr.
“A number of the discount is predicated on our year-on-year outcomes, clearly similar time final yr was fairly vital, the launch of Mannequin 3 had really begun then, and there have been additionally some logistics delays that pushed all the things collectively, so it was a reasonably vital quantity,” Mr Drew mentioned.
“However clearly numbers are down; there’s no hiding from that. A big a part of that’s [because] we began orders of recent Mannequin Y in January, and deliveries are solely starting [in early May] so there’s a real hole there.
“However we take a look at Mannequin 3, it has been a superb vendor for us, it’s nonetheless the primary promoting mid-sized [EV] sedan. That section in itself has hit a little bit of a plateau, the place we’re seeing individuals shift in the direction of SUVs increasingly, so I believe we’ve hit a little bit of a limitation there with individuals pondering that they want an SUV.”
Mr Drew additionally recognized the Mannequin 3 sedan as a robust participant within the mid-sized sedan section, by which it’s the second-best-selling car behind the Toyota Camry in gross sales to this point this yr. The section contains the Mannequin 3-rivalling BYD Seal, even when it’s lagging in gross sales.
“We’d like to see extra individuals driving Mannequin 3, [we think it’s] a implausible automotive and we’ll do what we are able to to get individuals Mannequin 3 and making that consideration, however that’s contributing to that [lower] end result,” Mr Drew informed CarExpert.
“On that, we anticipate to see issues flip round as we start deliveries of recent Mannequin Y in earnest.”
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