VFACTS: Record topples with October result

BOUYED by better stock availability and continued demand, Australian new-vehicle sales have broken the year-to-date (YTD) sales record. The October VFACTS numbers just in show YTD sales have notched up more than a million units for the first time.

While the 1,006,095 total figure is impressive, the 106,809 units sold in October was also a strong result, with the industry able to shift 19,510 more units (22.3 per cent) than the 87,299 vehicles moved in the same month in 2022.

There were the same number of selling days (25.2) in both October 2023 and October 2022, giving an unfettered increase of 774.2 vehicle sales per day.

Toyota continues its trend as Australia’s highest-selling vehicle brand in October with 20,298 sales, followed by Mazda and Ford. Toyota led Mazda with a solid margin of 10,982 vehicle sales and 10.3 market share points. Mazda’s tally was 9316 followed by Ford (8605), Hyundai (6620) and then Mitsubishi (6395). 

The Ford Ranger was the top selling vehicle recording 6215 sales. It was followed by Toyota HiLux (5766), Isuzu Ute D-Max (3198) Toyota RAV4 (2598) and Toyota Landcruiser (2561).

Year to date, there have been 71,800 electric vehicles sold across Passenger, SUV and Light Commercial segments this year, compared with 23,869 units sold in the same period in 2022. For October, the figures are 6057 units this year compared to 2098 last October.

Meanwhile, the Passenger vehicle market is up by 4295 vehicle sales (32.2 per cent) over the same month last year; the Sports Utility Market is up by 10,796 vehicle sales (22.3 per cent); the Light Commercial market is up by 4234 vehicle sales (19.7 per cent) and the Heavy Commercial Vehicle market is up by 185 vehicle sales (4.5 per cent) versus October 2022.

The largest volume brands to date in 2023 are Toyota with 174,957 vehicles sold (down 10.1 per cent from 194,669 this time last year), then Mazda with 84,536 units (up 6.1 per cent from 79,669), Ford with 69,809 unit sales (up 31.0 per cent from 53,298), Hyundai with 63,578 unit sales (up 0.3 per cent from 63,392), and Mitsubishi with 52,809 unit sales (down 21.6 per cent from 66,505).

There were solid sales increases posted across all states and territories. Sales in the Australian Capital Territory were up 18.9 per cent (1552), New South Wales 22.8 per cent (33,001), Queensland 16.4 per cent (21,937), South Australia 20.0 per cent (6677), Tasmania 32.0 per cent (1996), Victoria 32.0 per cent (30,740), Western Australia 12.3 per cent (10,166), and Northern Territory 1.9 per cent (740).

If the industry can sustain a minimum monthly sales average of 91,511 vehicles over the next two months – a figure it already has every month except three this year – it stands to break the Australian new-vehicle annual sales record achieved in 2017, when 1,189,116 new vehicles were sold.

According to FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, October’s result was explained by consistent demand for a wide array of vehicles across various price brackets.

“The Australian market has demonstrated incredible strength and vitality throughout 2023, culminating in Australia reaching one million sales in October for the first time,” he said.

“After some challenging years through COVID, this milestone speaks to the range of vehicles available to consumers, affirming Australia's position as one of the world's most dynamic and competitive markets. It also reflects vastly improved supply chains.

“In the past six months, five have broken all-time sales records compared with previous years and in October 106,809 new vehicles were delivered to Australian customers.”

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (October 2023): 

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (October 2023):

State by state (October 2023):