Tesla Model Y electric SUV outsells Ford Ranger

Tesla has toppled the Ford Ranger from second place on the VFACTS new car sales charts.

The Model Y was the second-best selling car in Australia during June 2023 behind the Toyota HiLux, with 5560 deliveries.

It dethroned the Ford Ranger (5334 deliveries) on its charge to second place, and was just 600 sales behind the HiLux.

To date this year the Model Y trails the Ford, however, with 14,002 deliveries for the former and 26,741 for the latter.

The strong month helped push Tesla into eighth on the year-to-date sales charts, with 25,577 deliveries. It’s sitting ahead of Subaru and Volkswagen, and narrowly trails MG.

Tesla has been the main driver behind Australia’s skyrocketing electric car sales.

Of the 43,092 electric cars sold this year, more than half have a Tesla badge on their nose. That’s despite the brand offering only two models, one of which is an unfashionable sedan in a market that loves SUVs.

Although they weren’t huge sellers, the death of the Model S and Model X for right-hand drive markets like ours has no doubt cost it some potential volume.

Along with Tesla, newcomer BYD has been a key driver of electric sales locally. To date in 2023 it’s delivered 6196 cars, all of which are the Atto 3 SUV.

With the launch of the Dolphin – also known as Australia’s cheapest electric car – in the coming months, expect that figure to grow.

The Dolphin will be battling it out with the MG 4 (which is just $100 more expensive) at the bottom end of Australia’s electric car market, while the GWM Ora sits not far above them on the pricing ladder.

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