From the second to the third quarter of this year, sales of electric cars plummeted by 25 percent in Australia. The explanation must be found in the lack of support for electric cars.
Electric vehicle sales in Australia fell by 25 percent from the second to the third quarter of 2024. In the same period, sales of hybrid vehicles increased by 3.3 percent, while sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) saw a significant increase of 56 percent.
Australia is the latest country where consumers are showing declining interest in electric cars as the tax rebate on them disappears.
New data from the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) shows that sales of electric cars will fall by 25 percent in the third quarter of 2024.
The number of new electric cars fell from 25,353 in the second quarter to 18,990 in the third quarter. Electric cars' market share thus fell from 8.1 percent to 6.6 percent. The lowest level in two years. Total car sales fell in the same period by 7.6 percent.
On the other hand, the decline in electric car sales is not due to a return to pure petrol cars either. Sales of petrol cars fell by 9.2 percent.
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Instead, it seems that consumers are increasingly choosing hybrid cars. Sales of hybrid vehicles increased by 3.3 percent in the third quarter, from 46,727 to 48,282 vehicles. Sales of plug-in hybrids increased by as much as 56 percent.
One possible explanation for the development is the support for electric cars in Australia. Or rather: the lack thereof.
In all states except Western Australia, there are no longer subsidies for the purchase of electric cars. In contrast, PHEVs remain exempt from company car taxation until April 2025, which can provide significant savings for leasing customers, AAA explains.
– There have been significant quarterly fluctuations over the past seven quarters. But the sales figures for this period confirm a clear growth trend for hybrid cars, while the market share for electric cars seems to have peaked for now.
– In the first half of 2023, sales of electric cars exceeded sales of hybrid cars. But since then, hybrid cars have outsold electric cars for five consecutive quarters, the interest organization says.
When in December 2023 Germany abolished all state subsidies for electric cars with immediate effect, sales of the car type also fell immediately. And so it continued for 10 months. Read more about it here .
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