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Exclusive: Tesla sales in Australia revealed, up 16 per cent in 2020

EXCLUSIVE: The true number of new electric vehicles sold in Australia in 2020 can finally be revealed after national registration data for Tesla is added to figures supplied by the rest of the automotive industry.


Last week, official figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) revealed just 1769 electric cars were reported as sold last year, representing 0.2 per cent of total demand for new motor vehicles.

As reported at the time, this figure for electric car sales did not include Tesla because the US start-up chooses not to disclose its monthly or annual delivery data in Australia.

However, national registration data obtained by Drive has revealed Tesla sold a record 3430 electric cars in Australia in 2020, a 16.3 per cent increase compared to 2950 Tesla cars registered in 2019. The data also shows 1005 Tesla cars were registered in 2018.

Drive

Over the past two years Tesla has sold almost twice as many electric cars in Australia compared to all other electric vehicles combined.

With Tesla registration data added, it means electric cars accounted for 0.56 per cent of all new motor vehicles sold in Australia in 2020 – not 0.2 per cent as reported by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

The website carsales.com.au previously revealed Tesla had shipped 3793 vehicles to Australia in 2019 and that more than 7000 Tesla cars were on local roads at the time. Recent registration data appears to show some of the vehicles shipped in 2019 were registered in 2020.

Drive

According to national registration data obtained by Drive there are now 9588 Tesla cars registered on Australian roads from the first model introduced in 2012 to the end of December 2020.

This makes Tesla by far the biggest-selling electric car brand in Australia.

However, as impressive as Tesla’s 16.3 per cent surge in sales was in 2020 – in a market that slumped by 13.7 per cent – the local result is less than the company’s global growth trend.

Drive

Tesla sales globally increased by 36 per cent in 2020 compared to the prior year, to just shy of 500,000 vehicles. 

Based on this trajectory, Tesla could have sold just over 4000 cars in Australia in 2020. However, supply constraints and shipping delays are understood to have blunted the brand’s growth locally.

Tesla Australia declined to comment on the local registration data obtained by Drive. Below is a list of Tesla's global sales since the brand's inception.

YearTesla global sales, change from prior yearVehicles produced
2020499,550, up 36 per centModel S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y
2019367,500, up 50 per centModel S, Model X, Model 3
2018245,240, up 138 per centModel S, Model X, Model 3
2017103,120, up 35 per centModel S, Model X, Model 3
201676,230, up 51 per centModel S, Model X
201550,557, up 60 per centModel S
201431,655, up 41 per centModel S
201322,477, up 625 per centModel S
20123100Model S, Roadster (2008 to 2012)
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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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