Australia electric and hybrid sales hold up, as overall car sales crash

The Driven

Petrol and diesel car sales are falling off a cliff in Australia, as the Covid-19 pandemic worsens an already bad situation, deepening a two-year downturn that is now causing some car dealers to shut.

New figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) VFacts paint a clouded outlook for dealerships, although many are opting to keep open to ensure service and support for customer vehicles, in particular those in the health and emergency services industry.

The FCAI said overall car and SUV sales fell 17.9 per cent when compared to March 2019,  and passenger vehicles were hit particularly hard, falling 25 per cent from the same month a year earlier.

Electric and hybrid vehicle sales, however, were one of the few bright lights in the data, with sales of electric, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid passenger and SUVs up across the board, with the exception of commercial SUV sales.

The VFacts data – which does not include Tesla – shows private electric and PHEV passenger sales have almost doubled with 91.3% more sales compared to March 2019, and hybrid private passenger vehicle sales are up nearly 75%.

In the non-private sector, electric/PHEV and hybrid passenger sales registered a 75% increase, an encouraging figure against the significant decrease in non-private electric/PHEV SUV sales which saw a 53.9% drop in sales year-to-date .

To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…

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