VACC Senior Research Analyst, Steve Bletsos breaks down the latest automotive statistics from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. Here’s what you need to know…
National Scene
For the month of January
- In what is a good start to the new year, 84,873 new vehicles were sold in January 2023, an increase of 11.9 per cent or 9,010 vehicles over January 2022
- This represents the best January new vehicles sales result since 2018
- All market segments were up in January 2023, with the sales breakdowns as follows: SUVs up 17.9 per cent; Passenger vehicles up 5.5 per cent; Light commercials up 1.6 per cent; Heavy commercial vehicles up 33.3 per cent.
State numbers
- All states and territories recorded increased sales in January 2023 compared to January 2022, with the following results recorded for the month:
- ACT up 18.6 per cent
- NSW up 15.0 per cent
- Queensland up 14.3 per cent
- SA up 11.9 per cent
- Victoria up 9.7 per cent
- NT up 7.8 per cent
- WA up 4.3 per cent
- Tasmania up 2.9 per cent.
Commercial vehicles
- Heavy commercial vehicles recorded the highest sales growth of all market segments in 2022, and this growth trend has continued into 2023, with 3,027 heavy commercial vehicles sold in January 2023, an increase of 33.3 per cent over January last year
- A total of 18,546 light commercial vehicles were sold in January 2023, an increase of 1.6 per cent over January 2022.
Sales by Vehicle Category and Fuel Type
Battery Electric vehicles
January 2023 sales
- 4,852 battery electric vehicles were sold in January 2023. This represents 5.7 per cent of the new vehicle market, but is based on just one month’s worth of results
- Tesla recorded 3,313 sales, accounting for more than two-thirds (68.3 per cent) of all battery electric vehicle sales for the month
- The highest-selling battery electric vehicle was the Tesla Model 3 (2,927 sales) followed by the Tesla Model Y (386 sales) and the BYD Atto 3 (267 sales).
Plug-in-hybrids
- 438 plug-in-hybrids were sold in January 2023, an increase of 39 per cent or 123 more vehicles than in January 2022.
Hybrids, petrol & diesel
- 5,136 conventional hybrid vehicles were sold in January 2023, an increase of 3.5 per cent or 172 vehicles over January 2022
- 44,831 petrol vehicles were sold in January 2023, an increase of 7.8 per cent or 3,225 vehicles over January 2022
- 26,589 diesel vehicles were sold in January 2023, an increase of 1.9 per cent or 504 vehicles over January last year.
Sales results by segment and vehicle brand
- The micro vehicle segment continued its declining sales trend from last year, recording a 54.9 per cent sales drop in January 2023
- Medium-sized vehicles, light SUVs, and upper large SUVs were the best-performing segments for the month, recording sales growth of 111.3, 44.8 and 38.9 per cent respectively.
Some of the best-performing vehicle models for the month included:
- Audi Q3 (403 sales, up 233.1 per cent)
- Hyundai Tucson (1,615 sales, up 108.4 per cent)
- Mazda CX-3 (2,417 sales, up 167.1 per cent)
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class (408 sales, up 242.9 per cent)
- Subaru Outback (792 sales, up 225.9 per cent).
The best sales performers in the luxury/sports vehicles segment in January 2023 included:
- Lamborghini (10 sales, up nine sales over January 2022)
- McLaren (10 sales, up six sales over January 2022)
- Rolls-Royce (two sales, up from zero sales in January 2022).
Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus, and Maserati recorded sales declines for the month.
Overall, Toyota led the market with 13,363 vehicles sold. Mazda was second with 9,407, followed by Ford (6,624), Kia (6,006), and Hyundai (5,809).
The Ford Ranger was the highest-selling model with 4,749 sales reported. Toyota’s Hi-Lux followed with 4,131. Tesla’s Model 3 was third with 2,927, followed by Mazda’s CX-3 (2,417) and Mazda’s CX-5 (2,189).
Economic trends
While momentum in the new vehicle market seems to be carrying over from last year, along with improvements in supply chains, consumer spending is anticipated to slow over the course of 2023 in response to rising interest rates, reduced house price growth, and other pressures. It remains to be seen how these will affect the new vehicle market over the year.
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
Statistics will be discussed on the next episode of THE GRILLE, an automotive industry podcast hosted by Greg Rust, Shane Jacobson and VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym. Visit: thegrillepodcast.com.au