While most of the attention when it comes to New Zealand’s latest August new-vehicle registration data is focused on the impacts of Covid-19 lockdown, one of the interesting sub-plots is the ongoing success of Tesla’s cheapest car.
The Tesla Model 3 had a stellar month, recording its best finishing position yet. It ended up as the country’s fourth most popular new passenger car (pipped only by the Toyota Corolla, Toyota RAV4, and Mitsubishi ASX), and the country’s sixth best seller overall.
The result is the highest placement yet for a fully electric vehicle, even though its outright sales figure (189 registrations) was slightly less than what was recorded in July (197).
Despite the industry pause, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) says that new electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations were up in August, in part thanks to the government’s ongoing Clean Car Discount scheme. This sees plug-in vehicles inherit rebates of up to $8,625.
All up, 760 pure EVs, 431 PHEVs, and 1,163 hybrids were registered in August. The Model 3 wasn’t the only plug-in nameplate in the outright top 10, either, with the Mitsubishi Outlander and MG ZS also featuring (although those figures included the sales of internal combustion versions of each model).
The MIA did confirm that the Model 3’s nearest competitor for the month was the MG ZS EV, with 56 registrations. The Hyundai Kona Electric was third with 31 registrations, heading the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV (28), Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (23), and MG HS PHEV (12).
The first round of the Clean Car Discount is set to finish up at the end of the year. It’s expected, though, that it will roll over into 2022, working alongside the Clean Car Standard.
Once this occurs, hybrid vehicles and low-emissions internal combustion engine vehicles will also receive discounts, and simultaneously high-emission vehicles (most controversially utes) will incur a levy ranging between $800 and over $3,000, depending on the nameplate.
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