February VFACTS: Growth continues, EVs overtake hybrids

The new car market continued its strong start to 2023 in February, with deliveries up 1.8 per cent per cent on the same period in 2022.

VFACTS sales data shows 86,878 deliveries in February, which is the best result for the month since 2019. It also continues a run of successive monthly growth extending to last July.

Electric vehicles (5932 sales) narrowly outsold hybrids (5716), with plug-in hybrids (454) accounting for just 0.52 per cent of all deliveries.

“Growing sales of electric vehicles proves that where a battery electric product exists which suits the driving habits, needs and finances of Australian motorists, they will purchase these vehicles,” said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive, Tony Weber.

Sales were down across Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria, but big year-on-year growth in Western Australia and marginal growth elsewhere lifted the market.

As detailed last month, VFACTS data compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has updated its segmentation to reflect inflationary pressures. For example, the Light Car market is now split into price partitions above and below $30,000, rather than $25,000.

Brands

Toyota led the sales charts with a total of 14,332 vehicles delivered and a 16.5 per cent market share, but was down 31.4 per cent relative to the same month in 2022.

It was followed by Mazda (7667 sales), Ford (6022), and Kia (6000), which once again sat one rung above its corporate big brother Hyundai (5504) on the sales ladder.

Brands with strong growth included Audi (up 126.4 per cent), which outsold its rivals at BMW and Mercedes-Benz Cars, GWM (up 188.4 per cent), Ram Trucks (up 80.5 per cent), SsangYong (up 86.6 per cent), and Volkswagen (up 65.98 per cent).

Alfa Romeo (down 46.4 per cent), Jaguar (down 35.3 per cent) and Land Rover (down 4.3 per cent), Citroen (down 60.6 per cent), and Mini (down 47.9 per cent) all struggled, as did market leader Toyota in the face of ongoing supply struggles.

Models

The Ford Ranger was once again the best-selling vehicle in Australia, with 4473 deliveries representing a 29.5 per cent improvement on the same month in 2022.

It was trailed by its arch rival, the Toyota HiLux, while the Tesla Model 3 once again returned a strong result with third place on the sales charts.

It was followed by the Mazda CX-5 and Mitsubishi Outlander, both of which managed to outsell the ever-popular (but ever supply-constrained) Toyota RAV4.

The MG ZS, Isuzu D-Max, Toyota LandCruiser, and Subaru Forester rounded out the top 10.

Segments

• Medium Cars under $60,000

• Sports Cars under $80,000

• Sports Cars over $200,000

• Medium SUVs under $60,000

• Upper Large SUVs under $120,000

• Upper Large SUVs over $120,000

Sales by region

• New South Wales: 27,600 (up 4.7 per cent)
• Victoria: 21,894 (down 1.3 per cent)
• Queensland: 18,427 (down 2.8 per cent)
• Western Australia: 9815 (up 16.7 per cent)
• South Australia: 5549 (down 4.5 per cent)
• Tasmania: 1414 (down 9.4 per cent)
• Australian Capital Territory: 1454 (up 7.2 per cent)
• Northern Territory: 725 (up 2.8 per cent)

Category breakdowns

Sales by body type

• SUV: 47,888
• Light commercial: 18,750
• Passengers cars: 16,435
• Heavy commercial: 3805

Segments with biggest market share

• Medium SUV: 21.8 per cent
• 4×4 pickup: 16.0 per cent
• Large SUV: 13.5 per cent

Sales by buyer type

• Private: 45,422 (down 3.1 per cent)
• Business: 30,368 (up 6.6 per cent)
• Rental: 4669 (up 7.0 per cent)
• Government: 2344 (down 0.8 per cent)

Sales by propulsion type

• Petrol: 44,528 (up 2.0 per cent)
• Diesel: 26,443 (down 10.8 per cent)
• Hybrid: 5716 (down 29.8 per cent)
• Electric: 5932 (up 889 per cent)
• PHEV: 454 (up 48.9 per cent)
• Hydrogen: 0 (N/A)

MORE: Check out all our previous VFACTS reports here