“I don’t think for a minute that for-profit auto companies are going to leave a big market. This is just a ploy used by the auto companies to get the Australian government to use Australian taxpayers’ money to prop up their bottom line. “
But automakers told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that competition for the limited number of electric vehicles available worldwide could force them to sell their end-of-line gasoline models in countries where their electric vehicle isn’t growing and target sales in the market more attractive legal systems.
Kurt McGuiness, electric vehicle manager at Volkswagen Australia, said Australia “has no real reason for automakers to send cheaper electric models down under as there are no emissions regulations or penalties for manufacturers who flood the market with older models.
“In order for Australia to be taken seriously and to see more mass-market electric vehicles that Australians can afford on a day-to-day basis, we need a national approach that is being pushed at the federal level,” he said. “With the UK being an important market for right-hand drive vehicles, Australia is constantly losing production priority to Great Britain due to its financial and regulatory needs.”
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Adam Paterson, Managing Director of Nissan Australia, said it was critical for the government to “give the market a clear direction on what the short, medium and long term goals should be”.
“The reality is that electric vehicle production is still being scaled up to meet existing market targets worldwide. Therefore, of course, production is always prioritized in the markets with the greatest demand and requirements, ”said Mr. Paterson.
Hyundai Australia spokesman Bill Thomas said charging infrastructure is critical to support the adoption of electric vehicles as international companies consider their global priorities.
“Supply for Australia may be limited as larger markets with greater demand for zero-emission vehicles take precedence,” said Thomas.
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About 0.7 percent of cars sold in Australia last year were electric, compared with 2 percent in the US, 3 percent in New Zealand, 11 percent in the UK and 75 percent in Norway.
Electric Vehicle Council chairman Behyad Jafari said global corporations are likely to get maximum value from investments they have made in gasoline and diesel auto plants by continuing to target markets where consumers do not develop an appetite for electric vehicles would have.
“Internal combustion engine factories and companies must invest in converting production lines to electric vehicles, or they can just keep producing gasoline and diesel engines. Australia is making itself more attractive for this, ”said Jafari.
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