Talking further on the electric car market and the recent drop in sales in Germany
after their government dropped subsidies on December 17 for battery electric
models, a year earlier for plug-in hybrids, the subsidies significant and costing
German taxpayers $16.2 billion dollars since 2014. Without the support of
incentives plug-in hybrids or PHEVS in Germany had a poor year with sales down
51 percent. Battery electric vehicle fared better with subsidies for most of the
year, sales up 11 per cent but following the subsidy’s demise on the 17 th
December sales dropped significantly – December sales down 58 per cent on
December 2022. On these figures it’s easy to suggest that plug-in hybrids or
PHEV;s will have a short life span, no different here, for the most part seen as
transitional technology and early adopters are expected to suffer significant loss
on resale value as they fall from favour. On the other hand, hybrid sales in
Australia now account for 8 per cent of the market with Toyota in particular
enjoying strong demand in this space. The demise of subsidies here is also
expected to impact electric sales going forward – Victoria dropped its $3,000
subsidy in July and N.S.W. its $3,000 rebate at the start of this month.

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