A leading newspaper in the nation’s capital, The Canberra Times, has exposed what it says is the real reason US electric car maker Tesla does not disclose its sales figures in Australia.
Tesla is the only automotive brand to sell new motor vehicles in significant numbers in Australia that does not provide sales data to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
The absence of Tesla sales figures skews the analysis of take-up rates of electric vehicles at a time when there is a strong focus on the emerging technology.
New-car sales data is used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, CommSec, and other market analysts to help governments set policies amid changing consumer preferences.
Industry experts estimate Tesla shipped approximately 10,000 cars to Australia last year, which would make it by far the biggest seller of electric vehicles locally – also outselling mainstream brands such as Toyota’s luxury-car division Lexus.
However, for now, the true number of Tesla cars sold in Australia last year remains a mystery.
It is unclear how many of the 10,000 cars reportedly shipped to Australia last year were delivered to local customers in calendar-year 2021, but history shows there is usually some correlation.
According to the official scoreboard published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, just 5149 electric cars were reported as sold in Australia last year, or less than 0.5 per cent of the total market.
If Tesla delivered an estimated 10,000 cars in Australia last year, it would increase the total electric-car take-up rate to about 15,000 vehicles – or 1.4 per cent of the total market.
Perversely, there is a financial incentive for Tesla to not provide its sales data in Australia – even though the company is valued at more than one trillion dollars globally.
Based on the latest market capitalisation estimates, Tesla is the most valuable car company on the planet – more than car giants Toyota and General Motors, even though Tesla manufactures less than one-tenth the number of vehicles.
Tesla now ranks alongside tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and Microsoft (the above list, in US dollars, was compiled by Bloomberg in October 2021, when Tesla first eclipsed the one trillion dollar threshold).
Despite Tesla
’s enormous wealth, The Canberra Times says the electric-car specialist avoids paying full membership fees to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries by not providing sales data.Although Tesla counts itself as a member of the Australian automotive industry lobby group, the electric-car giant pays a nominal fee rather than a much higher rate based on sales.
Most car companies pay six-figure fees – based on market share and the number of vehicles sold – to be a part of the peak lobby group which represents the industry in government policy discussions, and collates up-to-date sales data because state and territory registration authorities across Australia are not synced.
“Tesla has … been engaged in a long-running feud with the car industry
’s ACT-based lobby group, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, over what data it provides,” wrote The Canberra Times journalist Peter Brewer, who worked at the FCAI in a senior role before returning to journalism.“(Tesla) has to pay the lobbyists’ fees on the basis of vehicles declared as sold, and this would potentially cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars for effectively very little in return.”
The Canberra Times report said it was “troubling” that the automotive industry was forced to report inaccurate electric-car sales data, because such information is “regularly used by state and federal governments to inform and frame projections and estimates for future policies.”
Tesla
’s decision to not disclose its sales numbers could adversely impact the rollout of electric vehicle support across the nation, because policymakers aren ’t getting the full picture from a major driver of change.Tesla sales figures have long been available in neighbouring New Zealand because the data is collated via the national registration authority there.
The Tesla Model 3 was last month the fourth-best-selling vehicle outright in New Zealand – behind the Toyota HiLux and ahead of the Toyota RAV4 – after a large shipment was delivered towards the end of the year.
The Tesla Model 3 was the ninth most popular vehicle outright in New Zealand in 2021 – behind the Nissan Navara and ahead of the Mazda CX-5 – when data for the entire calendar year was collated.
Although this is a significant achievement for Tesla in New Zealand, the brand is unlikely to rank as highly on Australian new-car sales charts.
The New Zealand new-car market is about one-tenth the size of the Australian new-car market (165,000 sales in NZ versus 1,049,800 in Australia in 2021).
Last year, Drive sourced national registration data for Tesla cars in Australia for calendar year 2020. We are in the process of trying to gather Tesla sales figures in Australia in 2021.
Although Tesla does not yet publish sales numbers in Australia, it does provide global data in its financial reports.
| Year | Tesla global sales, change from prior year (based on Tesla financial reports) | Vehicles produced |
| 2021 | 936,172, up 87.4 per cent | Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y |
| 2020 | 499,550, up 36 per cent | Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y |
| 2019 | 367,500, up 50 per cent | Model S, Model X, Model 3 |
| 2018 | 245,240, up 138 per cent | Model S, Model X, Model 3 |
| 2017 | 103,120, up 35 per cent | Model S, Model X, Model 3 |
| 2016 | 76,230, up 51 per cent | Model S, Model X |
| 2015 | 50,557, up 60 per cent | Model S |
| 2014 | 31,655, up 41 per cent | Model S |
| 2013 | 22,477, up 625 per cent | Model S |
| 2012 | 3100 | Model S, Roadster (2008 to 2012) |
| New Tesla registrations in Australia, change from prior year (sourced by Drive.com.au) | ||
| 2020 | 3430, up 16.3 per cent | Model 3 |
| 2019 | 2950, up 193.5 per cent | Model 3 |
| 2018 | 1005 (increase from prior year unknown) | Model S, Model X, Model 3 |
The post Exposed: Why Tesla does not publish new-car sales figures in Australia appeared first on Drive.
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