The days of diesel dual-cab utes dominating Australia’s sales charts could be coming to an end, with the Tesla Model Y outselling the Ford Ranger in June and closing gap to the all-conquering Toyota HiLux.
In what amounts to a momentous moment in Australia’s transition to electric vehicles, the Tesla Model Y was the second most popular vehicle in the country last month, occupying a spot that has long been traded between the Toyota HiLux and the Ford Ranger.
Instead, the Ford Ranger was bumped to third place, according to official sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, with the all-new ute shifting 5334 units last month.
That saw it trailing the Model Y, which found 5560 buyers to finish the month in second place. Incredibly, the gap between it and the top-selling Toyota HiLux was only 582 vehicles, with the Japanese giant shifting 6142 examples of its popular workhorse in June.
Finishing the month in fourth position was the MG ZS, with 3756 sales, while the Toyota RAV4 rounded out the top five, with 2858 sales.
“The early adopters of the new powertrain technology continue to push up the sales of electric vehicles across the country,” says FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.
“The steady introduction of new battery electric models across all model segments at more competitive price points is critically important as we deal with the challenges of supplying electric vehicles that meet business and personal consumer needs at prices the mainstream buyers can afford.”
On the brand front, Toyota’s dominance continued in June, with the Japanese giant finishing first with 20,948 vehicles sold. Mazda finished the month in second position, with 9706 sales, while Hyundai leap-frogged Kia and Ford to finish third with 8215 sales. Ford (7753 sales) and Kia (7551) then rounded out the top five.
Tesla’s performance – which occurred before the latest round of price cuts – helped lift EV uptake in June to 8.8 per cent and saw electric SUVs outselling hybrid SUVs (8763 versus 6603), while electric passenger cars are still just behind their hybrid counterparts (2254 versus 2417).
Market-wide, Australians purchased some 124,926 vehicles last month, up 25 per cent on the June result in 2022 and marking the biggest June total since 2018.
“The end of the financial year has traditionally been a strong month for vehicle sales,” Weber says.
“Indications from our members are that demand for new vehicles remains solid, but the supply is not yet at a point to meet this demand. To put it simply, if we could have landed more vehicles, this would have been a record June result.”
Keyword: The end of diesel dual-cab dominance in Australia? Tesla Model Y outsells the Ford Ranger - and it's got the Toyota HiLux in its sights!