Toyota sales chief says EVs ‘impractical’ for Australian drivers
Sean Hanley says hybrid vehicles are ‘better fit’ in Australia but Electric Vehicle Council says brand’s comments could undermine lithium industry.
Hanley told journalists hybrid vehicles were “a better fit” for Australian motorists and could have greater environmental benefits.
The U.S. electric vehicle market is growing, but not fast enough during the latest quarter to prevent unsold EVs from stacking up at some automakers' dealerships or to allow Tesla to avoid new price cuts.
Rising inventories and price-cutting could represent only a short-term pause in EV market growth. But they could be signals that boosting U.S. EV sales above the current 7% market share level will be more costly and difficult than expected, even with federal and state subsidies.
(If any good they woul dsell themsleves as consumer flock to the new car - yet nay not happening).
Automakers North America have billions of dollars in EV-related investments riding on how the next several quarters play out. If production of EVs continues to outpace demand, automakers will have to choose between slashing prices and profit margins, or slowing assembly lines.
According to auto research firm iSeeCars.com, used EV prices are collapsing more than those in the overall used car market. In the firm’s June 2023 report, the data shows that used EV prices have fallen by nearly 30% year over year, with price drops actually accelerating from 8.8% in January to 16.8% in March and to 29.5% in June. The firm analyzed transactions from over 1.8 million one- to five-year-old used cars from the June 2022 and 2023 time period to capture the results.
“A year ago, used EV prices were on the upswing, rising faster than the average used car,” said iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer in the report. “Electric vehicle prices are now falling at nearly 10 times the rate of the average used vehicle, reflecting a clear shift in EV supply and demand.
