VFACTS January: Car sales boom continues into 2024

The Australian car industry’s record sales run has continued into 2024, with an all-time-high 89,782 new vehicles delivered last month – up 5.8 per cent on the corresponding month in 2023 and enough to break the previous January record set back in 2018.

The three most popular vehicles last year – all of them utes – continued on their merry way in January, the Ford Ranger (4747) continuing to hold the Toyota HiLux (4092) at bay, and the Isuzu D-MAX (2541) taking third.

Of course, the first month of trading in the new year doesn’t set into concrete the ongoing performance of any brand or individual model.

But some striking results have nonetheless emerged – including BYD outselling Tesla for the first time, taking line honours for Australia’s most popular EV brand, while two other Chinese car-makers, MG and GWM, made the list of top 10 brands.

While MG is now a regular and claimed its accustomed seventh position last month with 4006 sales – a relatively flat result for the one-time British brand (-0.2%) – GWM Australia broke into the top 10 to finish ninth as combined sales of its GWM Ute, Ora EV, Haval SUV and Tank off-road SUV brands hit 3124 units (+24.8%).

BYD racked up 1310 sales as its new Seal (589) and Dolphin (256) added incremental volume to the established Atto 3 (465), which was enough to outmuscle Tesla (1107) as the US brand manages a changeover period with its new Tesla Model 3 (723) and awaits fresh deliveries of the Model Y (384) – the latter Australia’s top-selling EV last year.

As one of many global brands now sourcing its cars out of China, Tesla’s sales in January – combined with MG, GWM, BYD, Chery (729) and LDV (1812), among others – reinforced China’s position as the third most popular country of origin for new cars in Australia (12,902), behind Japan (28,224) and ute hub Thailand (20,153) but ahead of South Korea (12,476).

Toyota’s strong return to sales growth over the past six months has carried into 2024, with the market-leading Japanese brand enjoying a 34 per cent increase in volume over January 2023 with 17,903 new deliveries.

It was helped by HiLux (4092), RAV4 (2211, fourth), Corolla (1843, seventh) and Prado (1746, eighth) all making it into the top 10, while Toyota’s overall market share was a solid 19.9 per cent – up from 15.7 per cent a year ago.

As per the final standings for the 2023 calendar year, Mazda held second position in January with 8165 sales – a 13.2 per cent decline on January 2023 – while Ford turned in exactly the same number of sales it posted a year ago (6624) to take third, owing almost everything to Ranger 4x4 (4334) and the related Everest large SUV (1176).

That said, 2024 will be a year to closely watch the leading South Korean brands, Hyundai and Kia, as well as Japanese stalwart Mitsubishi (armed with a new Triton ute and an ever-popular Outlander SUV), as they all aim for a top-three position.

In the opening bout, Hyundai has finished fourth (6612, +6.1%), Mitsubishi fifth (5911, +12.0%) and Kia sixth (5707, -5.0%). With MG and GWM taking seventh and ninth respectively, the remaining slots in the top 10 were occupied by Isuzu Ute in eighth (3758, +40.7%) and Subaru in 10th (3068, -14.8%).

Volkswagen (2717, +6.9%) and Nissan (2700, +10.3%) were outside the main table but will be keen to return in 2024, while in the luxury car ranks, BMW maintained the edge it established over Mercedes-Benz last year with 1602 sales in January (+8.2%) against its arch-rival’s 1129 (-36.3%).

Rock-solid Australian buyer preference for SUVs and utes underpinned the record market result in January, the high-riding wagons accounting for 55.5 per cent of all sales while light commercial vehicles were at 22.9 per cent. Passenger vehicles made up 18.3 per cent of sales.

These figures are all lineball with January 2023, but some key segments to watch this year include growth in small passenger cars as new models such as the MG4 and BYD Dolphin EVs take hold and supplies of the dominant Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 improve.

A barrage of new electric cars launching in 2024 should also continue the strong growth in EV sales, building from a slower month in January when battery-electric vehicles accounted for only 5.4 per cent of the total market (4893, +0.8%).

Combined sales of hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids and EVs (15,695) made up a healthier 17.4 per cent of total industry sales, but it’s a far cry from the share occupied by new cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE), which were as popular as ever in January – petrol at 42,247 and diesel at 28,923, the latter marking an 8.8 per cent increase for the month.

These clear preferences for ICE cars, mainly SUVs and utes, have prompted the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) to again express concern about the federal government’s proposed new fuel-efficiency standards announced this week, which will take tough action against the nation’s most popular brands and could drive up prices as penalties are imposed on car-makers selling higher-emitting vehicles.

“The continuing preference for SUVs and utes demonstrates the challenges the Commonwealth government is facing as it works to introduce a New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES),” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.

“Industry wants an emissions standard that is ambitious without limiting the choice and increasing the cost of the vehicles Australians need and want.

“Even with the current incentives offered by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments, sales of battery-electric vehicles appear to have plateaued during recent months.

“For more than a year, the industry has been sharing information with the government about what is happening in the suburbs and regions around the country and the preferences and challenges facing families and businesses.

“Good policy must reflect reality rather than a desktop exercise that makes assumptions about what the world can look like, and we strongly urge the government to share its modelling with us.”

Top 10 vehicles (January 2024):

Top 10 brands (2024 year to date):

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