VFACTS: A million sales and counting

AUSTRALIA recorded 98,375 new vehicle sales in October taking the year-to-date tally to beyond the one-million mark (1,025,621).

Despite the cheerful headline, the FCAI warns the growth is easing in the last quarter of 2024 with the October result down 7.9 per cent on the same time last year.

October sales are 8434 fewer than the same month last year (or 512.1 vehicle sales per day) despite the higher number of selling days (26.4 versus 25.2).

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said: “While not at the record levels of 2023, the October result is solid.”

“However, we remain concerned about the continuing performance of the private buyers segment which was down 14.2 per cent this month following a reduction of 17.2 per cent in September.

“This does indicate that economic pressures are a concern for families across the country.”

Mr Weber further noted that battery electric vehicle sales have subsided, despite an increasing number of new brands entering the market and what he described as the substantial tax benefits available to some purchasers through the FBT concession.

“Many of these new EV sales are in the highly competitive medium passenger segment which already records almost 50 per cent of sales being electric but the segment accounting for just over four per cent of total sales,” he said.

“Conversely, we are now witnessing the introduction of new plug-in hybrid models in the SUV and light-commercial segments which have previously been dominated by petrol and diesel models.

“This is significant given the overwhelming popularity of SUVs and light-commercial vehicles in Australia.

“This activity across segments and models highlights the competitiveness of our market and the increasing choice available to consumers across vehicle and fuel types.

“It will be interesting to see how this translates to an increase in sales momentum in the run up to the end-of-year result in December.”

Conventional internal-combustion engine vehicles continue to dominate the Australian new vehicle sales landscape with year-to-date figures showing petrol (443,861 units or 43.3 per cent) and diesel (310,837 units or 30.3 per cent) ahead by a considerable margin.

Petrol-electric hybrid vehicles place third in the mix (144,071 units or 10.1 per cent) ahead of battery electric vehicles (66,082 units or 6.4 per cent), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (17,953 units or 1.8 per cent), and hydrogen vehicles (10 units).

The remainder comprises (predominantly diesel-powered) heavy-commercial vehicles.

SUV sales continue to dominate with October sales tallying 56,512 units – a decrease of 3107 vehicles (down 5.2 per cent) on the same time last year.

This year-to-date, 577,077 SUVs were sold in Australia with medium SUVs capturing the lion’s share of the segment (232,768 YTD).

Private buyers form the majority of those purchasing SUVs so far in 2024 (349,360) ahead of business (181,321), rental (31,447) and government fleets (14,949).

Light-commercial vehicle sales place second with 4WD dual-cab utilities leading the charge (179,389 YTD). In all 22,171 LCVs were sold across October taking the YTD tally to 229,979 units – a decrease of 3510 units (or 13.7 per cent).

Business buyers comprise the majority of those purchasing LCVs to date in 2024 with 140,586 units ahead of private buyers (67,864), government (13,936) and rental fleets (9571).

Passenger models sold in October tally 15,527 for a YTD total of 175,758. That figure shows the passenger vehicle market down 2089 vehicles (or 11.9 per cent) when compared with the same month last year.

Small passenger cars are by far the year’s biggest seller with 79,303 units registered. The segment appeals primarily to private buyers with 101,912 unit sales YTD. Business (54,494), rental (15,010) and government buyers (4342) round out the field.

Heavy vehicle registrations numbered 4525 in October, and 42,807 year-to-date. The monthly total is up 272 units on the same time last year, an increase of 6.4 per cent.

Toyota was the market leader again in October with sales of 18,471 in October, followed by Ford (8581), Mazda (7656), Hyundai (7086) and Kia (6602). 

Toyota led Ford with a margin of 9890 vehicle sales and 10.1 market share points, registering an October market share of 19.7 per cent.

The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s top-selling vehicle with sales of 4841 followed by Ford Ranger (4757), Toyota HiLux (4523), Ford Everest (2668) and Isuzu D-Max (2295). Four of the top 10 vehicles sold in October were from the light-commercial segment.

Across the country we find the Northern Territory and Western Australia up on the same time last year with all other jurisdictions down.

Western Australia increased by 13.5 to 11,537 and the Northern Territory 15.3 per cent to 853, while sales in the Australian Capital Territory were down 16.4 per cent on October 2023 to 1298; NSW down 12.1 per cent to 29,014; Queensland decreased 1.7 per cent to 21,557; South Australia also decreased by 7.1 per cent to 6205; Tasmania fell 20.1 per cent to 1594; and Victoria decreased 14.4 per cent to 26,317.

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (October 2024):

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (October 2024):

State by state (October 2024):

*All data supplied courtesy of the FCAI.