Tesla Australia welcomes more EV competition despite sales slump
The American brand's sales have been in decline for the past 12 months, during which time several rival manufacturers have had time to either launch in Australia or bring all-new models that compete directly against Tesla's two-car catalogue Down Under.
BYD has introduced its Sealion 7 to fight the Model Y, while it has also had its Seal pitched against the Model 3 for some time. Other brands that have launched with Model Y rivals include Deepal and its S07, Geely's EX5, Leapmotor's C10, and Smart's #1 – all from China, where Tesla also builds its Australian-bound cars.
When asked about the threat of increasing competition, particularly from China, Tesla Australia country director Thom Drew outlined that his brand had a more open stance.
'It keeps us on our toes, I think that's the best way to look at it,' he told CarExpert.
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He went on to say that the additional EV makers were effectively assisting Tesla in its ambitions, stating the brand's 'opportunity has always been, since our early days, taking ICE cars off the road.'
'Having more and more EVs in the market, whilst [competitors are] taking a slice of our pie, they're all singing from the same songbook; they're all trying to convince Australians to buy an EV, so that is a positive thing for the industry,' he said.
'Yes, it means we have to do more to communicate why our products remain the best and really get that message out, and it's going to be a tougher fight than it's ever been. But I think collectively in the industry, we've got a huge opportunity.'
So far in 2025, EV sales have made up just a small portion of overall vehicle deliveries. Of the 381,017 total vehicles sold this year, EVs have accounted for just 23,911 – dwarfed by petrols (159,485), diesels (112,427) and hybrids (61,302), while also nearly beaten by plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) with 16,312.
None of the top 20 best-selling vehicles in April 2025 were fully electric, with four of the top five powered by diesel engines. Even so, Mr Drew hopes Tesla and its rival EV manufacturers can help sway some buyers away from internal combustion.
'Look at the top-selling vehicles in the market, if we can get them buying any EV, that's a win from the very beginning,' he told CarExpert.
'Then we can hopefully continue to convince people to buy [Tesla's] products.'
It'll still be a steep hill for Tesla to climb, as April saw it deliver just 500 vehicles for the entire month, almost 76 per cent fewer EVs than it sold in the same month last year.
'A lot of the reduction is based on our year-on-year results, obviously same time last year was quite significant, the launch of Model 3 had actually begun then, and there were also some logistics delays that pushed everything together, so it was a pretty significant number,' Mr Drew said.
'But obviously numbers are down; there's no hiding from that. A large part of that is [because] we started orders of new Model Y in January, and deliveries are only beginning [in early May] so there is a genuine gap there.
'But we look at Model 3, it has been a good seller for us, it's still the number one selling mid-sized [EV] sedan. That segment in itself has hit a bit of a plateau, where we're seeing people shift towards SUVs more and more, so I think we've hit a bit of a limitation there with people thinking that they need an SUV.'
Mr Drew also identified the Model 3 sedan as a strong player in the mid-sized sedan segment, in which it's the second-best-selling vehicle behind the Toyota Camry in sales so far this year. The segment includes the Model 3-rivalling BYD Seal, even if it's lagging in sales.
'We'd love to see more people driving Model 3, [we think it's] a fantastic car and we'll do what we can to get people looking at Model 3 and making that consideration, but that's contributing to that [lower] result,' Mr Drew told CarExpert.
'On that, we expect to see things turn around as we begin deliveries of new Model Y in earnest.'
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