National Scene
For the month of May
- Nationally, there was a total of 105,694 new vehicles delivered in May 2023, an increase of 11,311 vehicles or 12 per cent over May 2022. This represents a 2.7 per cent increase on May 2017 which was the previous best May result
- Year to date, 456,833 new vehicles have been delivered, which is 18,949 more vehicles or 4.3 per cent ahead of last year
- All market segments were up in May, with the following sales breakdowns: passenger vehicles up five per cent; SUVs up 14.7 per cent; light commercial vehicles up 10.7 per cent; heavy commercial vehicles up 14.4 per cent.
State numbers
- All states and territories recorded increased sales in May 2023, with Western Australia recording the largest increase (25.1 per cent). The respective sales results as follows:
- ACT up 10.7 per cent
- NSW up 2.4 per cent
- NT up 9.9 per cent
- QLD up 17.4 per cent
- SA up 10.5 per cent
- TAS up 2.8 per cent
- VIC up 15.9 per cent
- WA up 25.1 per cent.
Commercial vehicles
- Heavy commercial vehicles continue their long running growth trend. A total of 4,739 heavy commercial vehicles were sold in May 2023, an increase of 14.4 per cent over May 2022. Year to date sales are up 16.1 per cent
- A total of 23,824 light commercial vehicles were sold in May 2023, an increase of 2,296 vehicles or 10.7 per cent over May 2022
Sales by Vehicle Category and Fuel Type
Battery Electric vehicles
May 2023 sales
- 8,124 battery electric vehicles were sold in May 2023. Year to date there have been 32,050 battery electric vehicles sold, accounting for seven per cent of the new vehicle market
- Tesla recorded 4,476 sales, accounting for 55.1 per cent of all battery electric vehicles sold for the month
- The highest selling battery electric vehicle was the Tesla Model Y (3,178 sales). The BYD Atto 3 edged out the Tesla Model 3 for second place with 1,448 sales, whilst the Tesla Model 3 came third with 1,298 sales.
Plug-in-hybrids
- 791 plug-in-hybrids were sold in May 2023, an increase of 96 vehicles or 13.8 per cent over May 2022. Year to date sales are up 18 per cent over last year.
Hybrids, petrol & diesel
- 7,600 conventional hybrid vehicles were sold in May 2023, a decline of -3.7 per cent or -289 vehicles over May 2022. Year to date hybrid sales are down -15.5 per cent
- 52,327 petrol vehicles were sold in May 2023, representing an increase of 5,028 vehicles or 10.6 per cent over May 2022. Year to date petrol vehicle sales are up 4.3 per cent
- 32,113 diesel vehicles were sold in May 2023, a decrease of 1,317 vehicles or -3.9 per cent over May last year. Year to date diesel vehicle sales are down -7.9 per cent.
Sales results by segment and vehicle brand
- Sports vehicles less than $80,000 were the best performing market segment for the month (up 260.5 per cent) followed by micro vehicles (up 121.7 per cent) and medium size vehicles over $60,000 (up 120.3 per cent).
Some of the best performing vehicle models for the month included:
- Audi Q3 (450 sales, up 65.4 per cent)
- BMW 2 Series Coupe/Convertible (171 sales, up 755 per cent)
- Ford Mustang (309 sales, up 494.2 per cent)
- Mazda CX-3 (1,203 sales, up 143 per cent)
- Land Rover Defender (471 sales, up 447.7 per cent)
- Lexus NX (549 sales, up 137.7 per cent)
- MG ZS (2,502 sales, up 42.3 per cent)
- GWM Haval Jolion (1,076 sales, up 94.9 per cent).
Sales of luxury/sports vehicles were mostly positive in May 2023, with most luxury brands recording increased sales for the month. These included:
- Bentley (38 sales, up from 21 sales in May 2022)
- Ferrari (25 sales, up from 14 sales last May)
- Lamborghini (20 sales, up from zero sales in May 2022)
- Lotus (10 sales, up from 2 sales last May)
- Maserati (83 sales, up from 46 sales last May)
- Rolls Royce (6 sales, up from 4 last May)
- McLaren (16 sales, up from 8 last May)
- Porsche (685 sales, up from 476 last May).
The only luxury brands to record a decrease in sales in May 2023 were:
- Aston Martin (9 sales, down from 11 sales in May 2022)
- Jaguar (46 sales, down from 71 sales last May).
Overall, year to date, Toyota leads the market with 71,287 sales, followed by Mazda (40,718), Kia (31,609), Ford (30,429) and Hyundai (29,492).
In May 2023, the Toyota Hilux was the highest selling model with 5,772 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger (4,110), Tesla Model Y (3,178), Toyota RAV4 (2,616), and MG ZS (2,502) rounding out the top five.
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
Words: VACC Senior Analyst, Research and Policy Steve Bletsos.