Top 10 most popular new cars: Then and now
We examine the changing tastes of Aussie new-car buyers over the past two decadesThe types of new cars Australians buy today are dramatically different to those we bought over the last couple of decades.
While dozens of nameplates have disappeared in what is a fast-changing market, there’s also been a dramatic shift in the types of vehicles we’re buying.
In the year 2000, for example, there was just not a single SUV in the list of top 10 sellers. At that time all SUVs – or off-road wagons, as they were called – were four-wheel drive, and most were designed to go off-road.
That’s very different to today, where many Aussies buy SUVs for the high-riding stance and the styling rather than the sort of terrain they can traverse.
Again in 2000, the two best-selling utes – the Toyota HiLux and Holden Rodeo – were comprehensively thrashed by the top-selling sedans and wagons of the day.
Most utes back then were basic two-wheel drive models whereas today we’re gobbling up lavishly appointed four-wheel drive dual-cab models that can carry the whole family in safety and comfort.
By 2010 – just a decade later – the Toyota HiLux was barging its way up the list of top-sellers, but predominantly on account of the fragmentation of the market.
Whereas the top-sellers previously sold between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles annually – and at times a single model could account for 10 per cent of sales – by 2010 they were struggling to reach half that.
Australians could choose between many more models and variants and the way Australians were buying cars was also changing.
In the early 2000s it was common for fleets or government departments to purchase cars in bulk and hand them to their workers with little or no choice about what they drove.
Since then there’s been a boom in ‘user-choosers’, who can select from a pool of cars or use a budget to lease the exact car they want.
Astonishingly, in 2010 there were still no SUVs on that list of top-sellers.
That’s more amazing when you consider that SUVs in 2021 made up 50.1 per cent of the market – and it’s still growing in 2022.
Fast-forward to the modern day and the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger utes duel it out for the title of best-seller.
Of the top 10 selling cars in 2021, four of them were utes and four were SUVs. Only two – the Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 – were traditional passenger cars.
All of which makes you wonder what we’ll be driving in another 10 years. There’s a fair chance electric cars will feature prominently in the list of top-sellers for 2032…
Australian new-vehicle sales since 2000:
2000
Holden Commodore 83,610
Ford Falcon 60,460
Toyota Camry 31,874
Toyota Corolla 30,576
Mitsubishi Magna 23,270
Nissan Pulsar 21,740
Toyota HiLux 21,509
Mitsubishi Lancer 20,698
Holden Rodeo 20,608
Holden Astra 18,439
2010
Holden Commodore 45,956
Toyota Corolla 41,632
Toyota HiLux 39,896
Mazda3 39,003
Hyundai i30 29,772
Ford Falcon 29,516
Holden Cruze 28,334
Toyota Camry 25,014
Mitsubishi Lancer 23,076
Hyundai Getz 21,547
2021
Toyota HiLux 52,801
Ford Ranger 50,279
Toyota RAV4 35,751
Toyota Corolla 28,768
Hyundai i30 25,575
Isuzu D-MAX 25,117
Mazda CX-5 25,968
Toyota Prado 21,299
Mitsubishi Triton 19,232
MG ZS 18,423
Related: Where have all the popular nameplates gone?
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