Tesla Model 3 ranked fourth in August car sales

As debate rages over plans to introduce a mandatory CO2 emissions target for the car industry, an unlikely name has shot up the sales charts.

Tesla has increased its stranglehold on the Australian electric car scene and outsold some of the most popular brands in the country.

The American brand outsold big names such as Volkswagen and Subaru as a big shipment of Tesla Model 3 sedans and Tesla Model Y SUVs reached local customers.

Thousands of Australians have parked a Tesla Model 3 in their driveway.

The Tesla Model 3 finished fourth on the sales chart in August, the highest result recorded for an electric car in Australia. Only the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4 finished in front.

Tesla ranked seventh overall for the month, as the Model 3 outsold household names such as the Toyota Corolla and Mazda CX-5.

Tesla has a unique approach to automotive interiors.

The manufacturer’s 8054 sales for the year to date represent more than half of the 14,524 electric cars sold between January and August.

Model 3 sales represented 2380 of the 2668 electric passenger cars delivered in August, and 7037 of the 9420 sold this year.

The larger Tesla Model Y comprised 1017 of the 1558 electric SUVs delivered last month.

The Tesla Model Y has officially arrived. Photos by Thomas Wielecki.

Most manufacturers have a reasonably steady flow of new models arriving in Australia. The 2115 Toyota Corollas delivered in August represent roughly one eighth of the 17,251 examples sold in the first eight months of the year.

But Tesla’s cars tend to arrive in a feast-or-famine pattern marked by huge shipments – last month’s Model 3 deliveries represent almost one third of the car’s tally so far this year.

Even so, battery-powered rivals recorded much slower sales in August.

The Nissan Leaf, Polestar 2, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Porsche Taycan, Volvo XC40 Recharge. Photo: Thomas Wielecki

Models such as the Kia EV6 (80), BMW iX (75), Hyundai Ioniq 5 (72), Polestar 2 (38), Nissan Leaf (38), Porsche Taycan (25), Audi e-Tron (9) and Jaguar I-Pace (4) failed to generate significant traction last month.

Electric cars represented about 4.5 per cent of the 95,000 cars sold in August, and about 2 per cent of the 717,500 vehicles sold in the first eight months of the year.