Luxury cars fuel still-growing EV sales

Almost half of all prestige and luxury car sales are now fully electric, according to VFACTS sales figures released this week.

And almost two-thirds of the 50,905 EVs sold in Australia in the first half of 2024 wear the badge of a luxury or prestige brand.

The record result comes amid booming sales of hybrid vehicles at the lower end of the market and a slowdown in EV sales growth as competition across the market intensifies and sales of all new vehicles taking a breather in June, down 4.2 per cent over the same month last year.

Despite the often-overhyped headlines though, EV sales continue to grow – up 18.1 per cent in the first six months. And it’s the luxury brands accounting for the bulk of the growth.

Factor in hybrid vehicles and 53 per cent of the 72,214 upmarket cars sold in the first six months of this year had some form of electrification, according to VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

The popularity of premium-priced EVs represents a significant shift for vehicles with higher price tags and is in contrast to value-focussed brands, for which more affordable hybrids are proving popular.

Leading the charge (sorry) is Tesla, which despite slipping in first-half sales (they were down 33 per cent in June and 9.6 per cent for the first six months), is still the dominant EV brand in Australia.

The 23,116 Teslas sold in the first six months accounts for almost one-third of the prestige and luxury models reported as retailed by 19 brands (see the full list below).

And while many luxury brands are lagging behind the 8.0 per cent EV share across the broader market, a handful of traditional brands are helping with the heavy-lifting.

In the second quarter of 2024 – from April to June inclusive – more than half of all Volvo sales were EVs, helping boost the Swedish brand’s EV share to 42.7 per cent for the first half.

And BMW continues to scorch ahead of its prime German rivals with 27.4 per cent of its first-half sales powered solely by electricity.

The result is justification of BMW Australia’s unprecedented efforts to position six of its EV models below the luxury car tax (LCT) threshold, in turn giving buyers access to generous fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions on EVs.

The EV love stretches into the pricing stratosphere too.

Of the 26 cars Rolls-Royce sold in the first half 42 per cent of them were the new all-electric Spectre.

And 45 per cent of Ferrari’s 113 sales are now hybrids, closely followed by rival McLaren, with 44 per cent of 41 sales hybrid.

While Lexus is almost non-existent in the EV market – just 2.5 per cent of its sales are electric courtesy of the pricey RZ mid-sized SUV – a whopping 72 per cent of its sales these days are hybrid.

But while hybrids dominate at the lower end of the market – there were 89,836 hybrids and plug-in hybrids sold in the first six months versus 50,905 EVs – it’s full battery electric vehicles proving more popular at the luxury end of the market.

In the first half of 2024 there were 31,927 luxury and prestige EVs sold compared with just 6313 hybrids. In other words, for every hybrid luxury car sold there were five EVs sold.
The FCAI reported 50,219 EVs sold in the first six months, although EV brand Polestar stopped reporting figures from March.

Factor in the additional 686 Polestar sales for the past four months and it takes the six-month EV tally to 50,905, or 8.0 per cent of the market, an increase of 18.1 per cent over the first half of 2023.

Australian new vehicle sales: January-June 2024

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and EV Council

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au