Tesla Australia says it's focused on cars, not Elon Musk

Tesla’s Australian division says its main focus right now is to get people behind the wheel of its cars, including the facelifted Tesla Model Y, amid persistent US reports about the electric vehicle (EV) company’s controversial CEO Elon Musk and his involvement with the Trump administration.

While it’s impossible to draw direct correlations between Mr Musk’s political endeavours and the carmaker’s sales performance, Tesla’s local sales have undoubtedly been on a significant downward spiral over the past 12 months.

In April 2025, Tesla managed just 500 deliveries for the entire month, almost 76 per cent fewer EVs than it sold in the same month last year, placing it 23rd on the sales chart just ahead of Porsche, but behind other luxury brands like Land Rover and Audi.

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Meantime, key rival BYD sold more than six times the number of vehicles last month (3207), over 127 per cent up on April 2024 and placing it 10th overall for the month.

Year to date, Australian Tesla sales are now almost 62 per cent down.

Asked about the potential impact of Mr Musk’s high-profile activities in the US on local sales and perceptions of his company, Tesla Australia country director Thom Drew said he preferred to focus on Tesla’s vehicles rather than its CEO’s politics.

“Externally, looking at any of these political factors, is going to have some kind of influence, depending on what people see in the media, so that would likely be having an impact on people engaging with us,” he told CarExpert at this week’s Australian launch of the facelifted 2025 Tesla Model Y.

“We’re trying to take this as an opportunity to remind the Australian public of our products and how great they are.”

The Model Y’s midlife ‘Juniper’ facelift brings a raft of updates including revised suspension, tweaked interior equipment, increased range, and Cybertruck-inspired styling.

The Model Y was unavailable for several months in the lead up to first deliveries of the facelifted mid-size electric SUV, heavily impacting the American brand’s local sales given the model’s status as its best-selling vehicle and Australia’s favourite EV in 2024.

“Obviously [with] a new Model Y coming up, we’re focusing on that, and then also our local business,” said Mr Drew.

“So far, the response has been amazing. We’ve only just started test drives of [the Model Y] within the past few weeks in Australia, and we’ve had record test drive numbers than we’ve had in our entire time in the country.

“[That’s] partly why we’ve been trying to make sure people can see into Tesla Australia, and who we are as an established brand here, [to] help solidify why we still remain the number one EV brand in the country.”

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