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2023 was a record year for Australian new-car sales, which were boosted by significant improvements in supply.
But what were the leading sales performers for each of the major car brands?
Here's your guide to every car maker's best-selling vehicle in Australia last year, according to official VFACTS data.
(List excludes brands such as Lotus and Polestar that are currently selling just a single car, as well as those - such as Ferrari - that don't provide a detailed breakdown of model sales.)
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Alfa Romeo
The Italian brand’s first compact SUV, the Tonale, hit the ground running in its debut year – its 365 sales (from just five months on sale) singularly giving Alfa 25 per cent growth in Australia. Sales of the Giulia sedan and Stelvio midsized SUV dropped 36 and 41 per cent, respectively.
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Audi
Another compact luxury SUV finishing top… the Q3 was Audi’s No.1 again in 2023. The midsized Q5 closed the gap significantly to finish less than 250 units behind (4210 versus Q3’s 4457) where in 2022 the difference was about 1800 units. Other notable performers were the smaller Q2 SUV (up 120%) and A3 small car (up 57%).
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Bentley
As with several high-end brands including Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lamborghini, Bentley doesn’t provide a full breakdown of its model sales. However, unlike those other brands, we can include Bentley here as the Bentayga is listed with the highest sales figure: 107 out of a 229 total for the year.
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BMW
We may as well call 2023 the Year of the Small Luxury SUV as BMW’s X1 ended years of finishing runner up (or third) to the X3 and X5. It was the top BMW sales performer in 2023 with 4644 registrations, with the X3 second at 4002 registrations. The X5’s 3682 sales meant BMW’s main trifecta of SUVs accounted for more than 60 per cent of the brand’s local sales as it took the crown of Best-Selling Luxury Brand. The X1 won our Wheels Best Premium Small SUV award in 2023.
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BYD
With the Dolphin hatch and Seal sedan arriving at the tail-end of the year, it’s no surprise BYD’s debut model – the Atto 3 compact SUV – dominated the Chinese brand’s sales. The Atto 3 accounted for 11,042 of BYD’s 12,438 Aussie sales in 2023.
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Chery
In its return to the Australian market, Chery’s Omoda 5 small crossover was the only model offered until the Tiggo 7 Pro SUV joined in December. This is reflected in sales, with a sales split of 5370 versus 520, respectively.
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Chevrolet
Chevy sales grew by an impressive 42 per cent in 2023 – primarily driven by the Silverado full-size truck that’s converted to right-hand drive locally. There was a 50 per cent jump for the Corvette sports car, though, which has started to increase the number of variants available.
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Citroen
Another disappointing year for the famous French brand – just 228 sales. For what it’s worth, the top-seller was the C3 small car – making Citroen one of the very rare brand’s to have a No.1 vehicle that isn’t either an SUV or ute.
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Cupra
VW Group’s Spanish brand is making a fast start in Australia. Following a solid debut year in 2022, last year sales leaped by 239 per cent to 3765 units. Leading the way again was Cupra’s excellent Formentor compact crossover – its 2108 sales well ahead of the next model, the Born electric hatch (887 units). The flagship Formentor was our Wheels Best Performance Small SUV in 2023.
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Ford
You should already know the answer to this. The Ranger ute wasn’t just the best-selling Ford last year, it was the most popular vehicle in Australia full stop – finally ending the rival HiLux’s run. The related Everest SUV was a country mile behind but still impressed with a 46 per cent year-on-year increase, to more than 15,000 sales. The Ranger was judged our best ute of 2023.
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Genesis
Hyundai’s luxury spin-off continues to grow in Australia, if not at a pace that will scare the likes of Audi, BMW, Lexus or Mercedes. The GV70, as it has been since it launched in 2021, was Australia’s favourite Genesis in 2023.
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GWM
The company also known as Great Wall Motors was part of the big upward trend for Chinese brands, increasing sales by 45 per cent to more than 36,000 units in 2023. GWM's best-selling vehicle was the Jolion (11,252) which is sold under the brand's Haval SUV banner, followed by the Cannon ute (9363).
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Honda
The Japanese brand was one of the brands to suffer a sales decline in a record 2023, if only down by three per cent. A transition of CR-V generations last year didn’t prevent the ever-popular family SUV from retaining its Best-Selling Honda crown. A promising debut year for the ZR-V midsize SUV saw 2282 sales. The new, bigger CR-V won two of our Best Large SUVs segments (see below).
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Hyundai
Big news here: i30’s reign as Australia’s favourite Hyundai was ended in 2023 as the Tucson medium SUV pipped the small car by 21,224 to 20,626 sales. The Kona small SUV, released in second-generation form in the latter part of 2023, took sales bronze with 11,183 registrations.
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Isuzu Ute
A stunning sales year for the brand that offers just two vehicles. The D-Max ute accounted for about two-thirds of Isuzu Ute’s 45,341 sales in 2023, with the other third taken by the D-Max-based MU-X SUV. Both Isuzu models won Wheels Best Value awards for their respective segments (see below).
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Jaguar
Another lamentable sales year for the British luxury brand, with sales down by 17 per cent to just 581 units. The F-Pace midsized SUV was the top cat with 360 sales.
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Jeep
Another brand that disappointed last year, with sales plummeting 30 per cent. Every model lost sales compared with 2022, though the Compass compact SUV remained the most popular Jeep model with 1455 of the total 4634 sales.
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Kia
Outsold its senior stablemate Hyundai for the second consecutive year despite a small year-on-year decrease shrinking the gap to fewer than 1000 units. And mirroring Hyundai, Kia’s biggest-selling model in 2023 was its twin to the Tucson, the Sportage.
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Land Rover
Australia’s love affair with the New Defender continues. With the range bolstered by an even bigger 130 model, Defender registrations comprised more than half of Land Rover Australia’s sales last year. Next in line was the Range Rover Sport, introduced in late 2023 in latest-generation form, with 2224 sales.
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LDV
The Chinese commercial-vehicle brand racked up the sales again in 2023, with 31 per cent growth. The biggest slice of the 21,000-plus sales pie was taken by the T60 ute, with other significant portions taken by the Deliver 9 large van, G10 midsize van, and D90 large SUV.
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Lexus
A record year for the Japanese luxury brand in Australia – at 15,192 units more than double its 2022 total – featured strong sales performances from the RX large SUV, UX compact SUV, and ES sedan. But there was no change to the most popular Lexus – the NX midsize SUV.
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Maserati
The Italian brand’s first midsize SUV, the Grecale, is one of its best. And a far better proposition than the larger Levante. Australians clearly agree, because while the Grecale clocked up 494 sales in its debut year, Levante sales dropped from 436 in 2022 to just 91 last year.
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Mazda
Another mighty 100,000-unit haul for the Japanese brand in Australia, which has become comfortable in its second spot behind perennial market No.1 Toyota. Good sales figures are spread throughout much of Mazda’s extensive line-up, though the CX-5 remained immoveable as its biggest seller – followed by the BT-50 ute and CX-3 baby SUV.
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Mercedes-Benz
GLC wagon sales fell by 16 per cent last year and GLC coupe sales increased by 18 per cent – yet the wagon alone would still have retained its title of Most Popular Mercedes in 2023 – with 3631 sales. The total is nearly 5500 when the two body styles are combined. Next best was the larger GLE SUV, ahead of the C-Class. Not the best year for the German brand, though, with a nine per cent decrease allowing rival BMW to overtake it.
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MG
The MG3 city car and HS midsize SUV continued their popularity, and there were good starts for the new MG4 electric hatch and MG5 petrol sedan, but once again MG sales were dominated by the ZS/ZST compact SUV that accounted for about half of the Chinese brand’s sales.
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Mini Cooper Resolute
Mini
BMW’s British sister brand was another trend-bucker to have a No.1 model that was neither an SUV nor ute. The Mini hatchback’s 2011 sales saw off the 1567 units of the Countryman SUV in a strong year – up 43 per cent.
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Mitsubishi
The Triton struggled relatively in the last year before the 2024 arrival of a new-generation model, resulting in the ute being displaced by the Outlander midsized SUV as the highest-selling Mitsu locally. Outlander sales increased 24 per cent year on year, though Mitsubishi will be hoping the new Triton gives overall sales a big kick in 2024 after 2023’s 18 per cent drop.
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Nissan
It’s amazing what new product can do. After years of coping with an ageing line-up in Australia, Nissan enjoyed 49 per cent growth in 2023 – driven by new-generation versions of the Pathfinder, Qashqai and X-Trail SUVs. The latter, midsized SUV was the Japanese brand’s sales leader with 12,861 registrations, followed by the Navara ute (8499), Patrol (7812), and then Qashqai (6614). The X-Trail won our Medium SUV Megatest in early 2023 (more below).
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Peugeot
Faring far better than sister brand Citroen with 21 per cent growth and more than 2500 sales – if still far behind French compatriot Renault – Peugeot’s most popular model was again the 3008 medium SUV (despite a 19% drop). It wasn’t far ahead of the Partner van (552 units).
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Porsche
No shocks at the venerable sports car brand. The Macan midsized SUV remained rooted to its No.1 position – with 2925 sales comprising virtually half of Porsche’s total 6052 sales. Will a switch to an all-electric version in late 2024 hurt it, though? The Cayenne large SUV was again the second most popular Porsche.
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Renault
Another midsized SUV rules the roost here, with the Koleos commanding the biggest chunk of Renault sales – 2776 out of the total 8024 units. Next best was the Arkana crossover, with 1572 sales.
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Skoda
A strong year for the Czech brand, just one unit shy of 8000 sales – up 23 per cent. The Kamiq small SUV was again the top Skoda (1985 registrations), while the Scala small car was the fastest-growing model with a 115% increase.
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SsangYong
Watch out Hyundai and Kia! The fastest-growing Korean brand in 2023 was SsangYong, with a 51 per cent year-on-year increase. The Musso ute remained the top seller, with 3491 sales.
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Subaru
The Forester was run fairly close in 2022 by the new Outback, but in 2023 the midsized SUV jumped 54 per cent to establish its No.1 status more convincingly – to more than 16,000 sales. The Outback was second again, also growing to 12,903 sales. There’s one other five-figure Subaru if you combine sales of the outgoing XV with its not-hugely-different replacement, the Crosstrek.
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Suzuki
A tricky 2023 for the small-vehicle specialist, with sales down 21 per cent. There was a change at the top, with the Swift city car climbing from 4405 units in 2022 to 6914 registrations last year – overtaking the Jimny baby 4x4 that dropped 12 per cent year on year to 5002 units. A new-gen Swift launches this year, while the Jimny was bolstered last December by the addition of a five-door model.
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Tesla
The remarkable Tesla story continued last year with a giant sales performance – with more than 46,000 registrations produced by just two models. The Model Y SUV turned the tables on its sedan relative last year, with 28,769 units clearly ahead of the 17,347 sales for the Model 3.
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Toyota
A relatively disappointing year for Toyota which finished seven per cent down in a record sales year (though it was still around 115,000 sales ahead of No.2 Mazda) and the HiLux was displaced as the nation's favourite by its nemesis, the Ford Ranger. The ute was still the most popular Toyota – with 61,000-odd sales more than double the next best seller, the RAV4 (29,627 registrations).
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Volkswagen
Greatly improved local supply for the German brand was reflected in a 42 per cent growth figure last year. The T-Roc small SUV and Tiguan medium SUV were key beneficiaries, occupying the top two sales spots with 8943 and 7298 registrations, respectively. That represented a 175 per cent increase for Tiguan and 147 per cent increase for T-Roc. In third was the new-generation Amarok ute, up 47 per cent to 6626 registrations.
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Volvo
Last but certainly not least, Swedish brand Volvo – with a second consecutive record year racking up 11,128 sales. A significant 35% of those sales were pure electric models. The fastest-climbing model was its C40 electric crossover (up 125 per cent to 1103 sales), though the closely related XC40 small SUV refused to be budged from its No.1 spot, up 14 per cent to 5837 sales.
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