Published - March 27, 2023 @ 4:53 PM (EET)

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In a sign that one of the developed world's most reluctant adopters of electric vehicles is finally shifting, there has been a noticeable increase in Teslas on Australian roads in recent months. 

The supply-chain bottlenecks that stretched wait times for a new Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) out to nine months last year and inflated the price of second-hand Model 3s to $87,000 seem to be over.

According to Tesla's website, a new top-range Model 3 Performance ordered today in Sydney could arrive within a week, similar to the US, the company's home market.

Australia's second-hand market is also witnessing some degree of sanity returning, with dozens of pre-owned Model 3s listed on Australia's carsales.com website.

WHY IT MATTERS

Improving supply is helping to turn around a market that has long been an electric-car outlier. Australia's previous government villainized the power and range of EVs for political gain, with the country's relatively low adoption of EVs pushing carmakers to prioritize other nations for new models.

Australia's current Labour administration has introduced tax exemptions on new EVs. Meanwhile, the government is also probing fuel-efficiency standards that could oust the most-polluting vehicles from the roads and make more room for EVs.

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A year ago, EVs accounted for less than 1% of new-car sales in Australia, compared to last month's figure of 6.8%.

NOW WHAT

As Tesla prepares to publish first-quarter 2023 deliveries and production numbers, Barclays analysts reiterated an Overweight rating and a $275.00 per share price target on the electric vehicle giant.

Analysts expect Tesla to achieve 425,000 EV unit deliveries in the quarter, which compares to 405,000 produced for the same period year-over-year and the consensus of 420,000.

"Concerns have built on the pace of deliveries amid weakening demand signals. However, we believe commentary on the pace of production likely implies some upside, which we assume will be ~430k units in the quarter," they wrote in a client note.

According to a recent survey by UBS examining 10,000 consumers, Tesla remains the top EV brand, with 42% of EV buyers looking for a Tesla. While the stock is down about 434% over the past 12% months, it is still the world's most valuable car company.

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