VFACTS January 2023: Sales starting strong, Tesla Model 3 a top seller

It’s good news for the Australian new car market this week, with January showing 84,873 sales – an 11.9 per cent jump over the same period in 2022 and an increase of 375.4 vehicle sales per day.

No surprises, last month was also the strongest January the market has seen since 2018 – although still markedly down on that year, when 88,551 vehicles were sold in that first month of the year.

January 2019, despite being the ‘before times’ of a pre-COVID life, saw 81,994 sales, which the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) attributed to “an imminent federal election, a declining real estate market and tighter lending practices”.

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🥇 Australia’s Top 10 cars for January 2023

Guessing at the first- and second-place finishers is no challenge, so let’s start with the most impressive result first.

In this far-flung future of 2023, Tesla’s Model 3 continues its rapid growth as more and more buyers look to keep up with what they’re seeing in the Joneses’ driveway. Just as the Model Y SUV did in September last year, the Model 3 has rocketed into third on the January sales chart – its highest-ever result.

The Model Y’s September result was stronger than the Model 3’s January numbers, however, with the Y selling 4359 that month to the 3’s 2927 this past month. Tesla’s sales performance is often inconsistent, however, with the Y dropping out of the top 10 by October 2022.

Where the 3 will rank next month is anybody’s guess.

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Tesla Model Y

Utes & SUVs & utes & SUVs: Ranger and HiLux still on top

As expected, first place in January goes to the new-generation Ford Ranger with 4749 sales across 4x4 and 4x2 configurations, followed closely by the ageing but eminently popular and recently updated Toyota HiLux.

Mazda’s compact CX-3 had a surprising burst of energy in January, stealing fourth place behind the Model 3 with 2417 sales (▲from 905 in January 2022). Its big brother the CX-5 followed with 2189 sales (▼ from 3213), while the supply-constrained Toyota RAV4 held sixth with 1958 sales (▲ from 1425).

Isuzu’s popular new D-Max ranked seventh in January with 1843 sales (▼ from 1895), followed by the MG ZS on 1842 (▲ from 1588), the new Mitsubishi Outlander on 1674 (▲ from 1352) and the LandCruiser range rounding out the top 10 on 1631 (▲ from 1443).

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In tables: Top 10 models for January 2023

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🥇 Australia’s Top 10 car brands for January 2023

Ups and downs 🔼 🔽

Toyota has started the year strong with a huge 13,363 sales – although not so strong as in January 2022 when it sold 15,333 vehicles.

Mazda, more popular in Australia than in just about any other market, finished second with 9407 sales (▼ from 9805 in January 2022) and Ford – ‘The Ranger and Mustang Motor Company’ – took third with 6624 sales (▲ from 4528).

Kia, in fourth, registered 6006 AO-driven sales for January (▲ from 5520), again outselling its bigger-budgeted Hyundai stablemate, which took fifth with 5809 sales (▲ from 5128). Mitsubishi finished sixth again with 5276 sales (▼ from 6533), MG held onto its equal-best seventh place and jumped to 4015 sales (▲ from 3538), while Subaru ranked eighth with 3601 sales (▲ from 2722).

Tesla’s strong run with the Model 3, and its latest popular entrant the Model Y, gave it ninth spot with 3313 sales (no January 2022 figure recorded), and Isuzu closed the top 10 with 2671 sales (▼ from 2715).

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In tables: Top 10 brands for January 2023

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And the rest…

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The size and the shape: Market segment results

Between them, SUVs and utes represented 76.9 per cent of all new-car sales in January.

SUVs widened their lead on the disappearing passenger-car class, selling 46,698 across size categories while passenger cars of any size represented just 16,602 sales in January. Utes and vans amounted to 18,546 sales in January.

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In tables: New car sales by segment and size for January 2023

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New-car sales by fuel type in January 2023

Petrol and diesel are still well ahead of electrified cars, if only because of lower prices and more needs met – but EVs nearly outsold hybrids in January… meaning that at least one tide might be turning soon.

Electrified vehicles continue to build interest with Australian motorists, although battery-electric vehicles (‘EVs’) are still well below 10 per cent of the market. For January 2023, EVs finished on 4852 sales.

Battery EVs almost outsold hybrids, however, with the latter taking a tiny lead with 5136 sales. The tiny Plug-in hybrid EV segment (PHEVs) showed just 438 sales in January.

Diesel models made up 26,589 of January sales, but petrol remains the most popular fuel for Australian buyers, with 44,831 examples sold.

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In tables: New car sales by fuel type for January 2023

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State Country of Origin: Where Australia’s new cars came from in January 2023

Japan remains Australia’s favourite source of cars, followed as always by Thailand, Korea… and more recently, China.

Australian buyers preferred Japanese cars in January to the tune of 23,538 sales, although that number is down from 27,528 at the same time in 2022.

Thailand followed closely as the source of 20,441 of our new cars (▲ from 17,907), while Korea – home to the giant-slaying Hyundai and Kia brands – accounted for 12,606 sales (▲ from 11,162).

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Chinese production is storming ahead, taking 12,486 sales away from the old guard in January – up from 6264 for the same period in 2022. Only one Chinese-owned brand is in the top 10, in the form of MG, but Tesla, Polestar and most Volvo models sold in Australia are now all sourced from China. Between them, they accounted for 8354 sales in January.

Chinese maker GWM sold 2503 vehicles, LDV accounted for 1423 sales, and all-electric brand BYD recorded 267 sales.

In charts 📊

January 2023 – Top 10 models

January 2023 – Top 10 brands

January 2023 - Overall segment sales

January 2023-2022 - Category sales

January 2023 - sales map

Janaury 2023 - buyer type