EV and hybrid sales remain small but bright lights of slumping Australian car market

The Driven

Electric and hybrid vehicle sales continued an upward climb in July, yet again defying the deep and ongoing slump that has afflicted Australia’s wider auto market for more than two years.

Vfacts figures released today reveal a 20% drop in sales in the year July compared to the same period a year earlier, but electric vehicle sales, albeit from a low base, surged to achieve a 27.8% increase across all segments, despite a dip in July.

Broken down, this equated to a 44.5% increase in electric passenger vehicles to 490, a 12.2% increase in SUVs, and 30% increase in light commercial sales. The numbers do not include Tesla – although Tesla is a member of the FCAI it does not reveal its local sales figures.

According to private sources, just 198 Tesla vehicles were shipped to Australia last quarter, and an additional 80 have been loaded on cargo ships bounder for Australia in July.

Regardless, the Tesla Model 3 remains the leader for 2020 – and for that matter the entire EV market in Australia, followed by the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Nissan Leaf, which has taken over the Ioniq to claim third place.

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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