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“The great thing about Australia is we don’t have tariffs, and we have a significant number of new products coming,” Smitherman said. “Our goal is to have a product in every segment in Australia.”
The growing availability of BYD models in Australia, including some that retail for less than $40,000, has caused other major brands, including Tesla, to cut their prices, too.
Trump has vowed to impose heavy tariffs on Chinese companies.Credit: AP
Prateek Biswas, a transport and materials analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said Trump’s plan to maintain or increase the Biden administration’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles would thwart Chinese brands’ crucial plans to expand their US presence.
“The next question is really, ‘Where do they expand?’” Biswas said. “They will be looking at relatively lucrative markets, and there aren’t that many ... Australia is definitely one of them.”
Electric Vehicle Council head of legal, policy and advocacy Aman Gaur said Australian consumers could benefit if the US restricted electric vehicle imports.
“I think we can expect to see increased supply to Australia and quality electric vehicles in our market under $30,000,” he said.
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The industry group expects the Albanese government’s coming vehicle pollution limits, which take effect from next year and bring Australia into line with almost every other developed country, to boost motorists’ choice of low- and zero-emissions models.
The limits, to apply only to new cars, are designed to reduce emissions by 60 per cent by 2030 by encouraging makers to increase imports of EVs or bring in more efficient combustion-engine cars, with penalties for those breaching their cap.
After years of sluggish growth, sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids account for nearly 10 per cent of Australia’s new car sales. Adoption of fully battery-electric vehicles has started to slow this year in line with global trends, which analysts attribute to the impact of inflation and cost-of-living pressures. Sales of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which are typically cheaper than fully electric models, have increased.
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