Electric car sales surge ends in Australia as hybrid boom continues

The surge in electric vehicle sales in Australia has come to an abrupt end after the segment last month registered its first decline since late 2020.

EV registrations in April were 6194, down five percent on the 6530 units for the same month last year, according to official industry figures released today.

The segment has regularly enjoyed triple-digit year-on-year growth since the start of 2021, and hasn't posted a negative monthly year-on-year result since November 2020

It's too early to know if April is a blip or the first sign of Australia following a trend for declining EV sales in other markets such as the US and Europe.

EV sales growth had started to slow in the second half of 2023, with most months recording only double-digit growth. Year-to-date EV sales are now up 32 per cent, having been up 46 percent after the first three months of 2024.

Tesla sales slumped 44 per cent year on year to 2077 units despite remaining the leader for EVs in April. The US electric car brand recently announced further price cuts for its Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV.

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China's BYD increased year-on-year sales by 26 percent to 1410 units, helped by the Seal sedan (811 registrations), though sales of its Atto 3 SUV dropped by 63 percent.

In year-to-date figures, Tesla sales are still up (by nearly six percent), with BYD growing faster, with 83 percent.

First-time EVs from Ford, Subaru and Toyota are all struggling to make much of an impression in the market at this stage.

Toyota sold only 74 units of its bZ4X midsize SUV last month, 17 ahead of Subaru's twin, the Solterra. Just 42 Mustang Mach-Es were registered in April.

Lexus and Mercedes EVs also posted low results.

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Korean twins the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 registered year-on-year growth, if from smaller volume bases, a similar story for the Cupra Born that almost doubled sales though just from 21 to 41 units.

Swedish EV brand Polestar has stopped reporting sales to the FCAI after joining Tesla in accusing the lobby group of misleading consumers over the New Fuel Efficiency Standard. Tesla will also stop reporting its sales midyear.

Polestar told WhichCar it registered 100 vehicles in April, which wouldn't have altered the segment decline.

In contrast, hybrid sales continue to explode, with 195 percent year-on-year growth comparing April 2024 with April 2023. Year to date, combustion-electric sales are up nearly 140 per cent.

Plug-in hybrid sales are also enjoying increased popularity - up nearly 140 percent when comparing year-on-year and year-to-date.

On the pure combustion side, diesel sales are up 14 per cent year to date after 22 per cent growth in April. Petrol vehicle sales were down slightly in April and stagnant year to date.