VFACTS May 2023: Utes take top 3 spots, SUVs fuel record registrations

May marked the Australian car market's best-ever results for that month, surging 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2022, with a total of 105,694 new registrations across the country.

Compared to the 82,137 new vehicles registered the previous month, this represents 23,557 more new vehicles hitting the Australian roads in May than in April, a significant 22 per cent month-to-month increase.

As is, seemingly, tradition, the top two spots are occupied by the veritable dual-cab kings of the road, with the Toyota Hilux achieving 5772 (4x2 and 4x4 combined) new registrations, while Ford achieved 4110 (4x2 and 4x4 combined) deliveries of its popular Ranger ute.

The Tesla Model Y has overtaken the highly sought-after Toyota RAV4 for third place, with 3178 new deliveries compared to Toyota's 2616.

The MG ZS, with 2502 registrations, vaults last month’s Top Five finalist, the Hyundai i30.

Overall, despite higher costs of living and continual interest rate rises, a perpetually improving car supply and a healthy backlog of demand have buoyed the Australian car market, which has grown year-to-date by 4.3 per cent when measured against the same five month-period of 2022.

Western Australia represented the largest monthly growth against the month of May 2022, with Western Australia measuring 25.1 per cent growth, and Queensland, 17.4 per cent.

FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber says “this result is a signal that we are starting to see some improvement in supply, “

“However, not all issues are resolved, and our members continue to work with their customers to improve vehicle delivery times.”

“A large portion of vehicles delivered this month would have been ordered during 2022”, tempers Weber.

“Nevertheless, reports from our members indicate that demand remains firm”.

Deliveries of new electric vehicles slightly shrank from last month, representing 7.7 per cent of May’s new vehicle registration mix, compared to 8 per cent the previous month. Combined electrified vehicle registrations (battery electric, plug-in hybrid and conventional hybrid) remain fairly steadfast, at 15.6 per cent (compared to 15.4 per cent in April).

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Jump ahead

• Top 10 models
• Top 10 brands
• Sales by segment
• Sales by fuel type
• Sales by country of origin
• Sales in charts

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🥇 Australia’s top 10 cars for May 2023

The frequent offenders are back, with Toyota’s Hilux and its Ford Ranger nemesis, once again, occupying the top two spots on the sales charts.

Last month, however saw the Toyota Hilux (5772) vault the Ford Ranger (4110) to the number one spot, but the overall 2023 sales race is still anyone’s guess: Toyota Hilux currently boasting 21,951 year-to-date registrations against the Ford Ranger’s 21,407 year-to-date figure.

Tesla continues to enjoy a healthy supply line, delivering 3178 Model Ys across the nation, usurping the popular Toyota RAV4 (2616) to May’s fourth position.

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The MG ZS rounds out the Top Five, dipping in with 2502 new registrations, ahead of the Isuzu D-Max with 2371 registrations.

Last month’s fifth place finisher, the Hyundai i30 (2163), occupied seventh place, ahead of its Tucson stablemate in eighth (1911).

Mitsubishi’s new Outlander enjoys strong demand and solid supply, registering 1880 new examples across Australia, while the ageing Mazda BT-50 (1788) continues to trickle along, rounding out the Top 10, but down a drastic 94.6 per cent against this time last year.

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In tables: Top 10 models for May 2023

In tables: Top 10 model year-to-date 2023

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🥇 Australia’s top 10 car brands for May 2023

Ups and downs 🔼 🔽

Toyota, the Japanese giant, continues to rule the volume share of the Australian market, pegging 18,340 new registrations across May alone. That’s up steeply against last month’s result of 12,029, though their year-to-date figures are still down 19.6 per cent compared to this time last year.

Mazda swings into second for May, pegging 8475 new registrations nationally, and is enjoying a stellar year, currently up 30.9 per cent YTD.

Hyundai and Kia were separated by less than 100 units, with the former placing third (7078) while Kia trails in fourth with a neat 7000 registrations in May.

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Ford (6251) comfortably occupies the middle of the road in fifth, while MG (4828), Mitsubishi (4583) and Tesla (4476) follow closely behind in sixth, seventh and eighth rankings.

Volkswagen swings into eighth place, with 3940 new registrations for the month, and tells us that the new T-Roc “would likely exceed 1000 units this month with plentiful supply”.

Subaru, rounds out the top 10 with 3564 registrations, with new CrossTrek (1126) and Forester (1045) doing the heavy lifting.

In tables: Top 10 brands for May 2023

In tables: Top 10 brands year-to-date 2023

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And the rest…

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Size and Shape: Market segment results for May

Medium family SUVs and heavy-hitting light commercial vehicles continue to make up the lion’s share of new Australian cars, with the Medium SUV segment increasing its market to 22.4 per cent in the month of May, while light commercial vehicles accounted for 16.3 per cent of the market.

If you add Small and Large SUV segments, however, the combined SUV arena accounts for a shocking 48.8 per cent of all new cars registered across Australia.

Elsewhere, the entire passenger car market is up by 5 per cent for May, with small passenger cars delivering in the biggest numbers, representing 6.2 per cent of all new cars registered across May.

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

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New-car sales by fuel type in May 2023

Across the entire Australian car market for May, Petrol vehicles represented 49.5 per cent of all new vehicle registrations, with diesel still proving popular, at 30.4 per cent.

Increasing buyer interest, however, sees pure electric-powered vehicles (8124) exceed popular hybrid vehicles (7600) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (791).

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

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

Japan continues to supply the bulk of new cars in Australia, with 26.8 per cent (28,350 vehicles) of new cars registered in May having being imported from Japan.

Increasing competition, however, is seeing Japan’s market share slowly receding, currently down 15 per cent from the same period measured YTD last year.

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Australia’s penchant for dual-cab ladder frame utes sees Thailand-sourced vehicles representing the second-largest pool in the national market for May, with 20,624 Thai-built vehicles registered.

Chinese product is clearly demonstrating the biggest developments, and changes in buyer perception, currently up 118.8 per cent YTD against figures measured over the same five months of 2022. In may, 17,958 Chinese-built vehicles were let loose across the nation, representing a touch under 17 per cent of the Australian car market in May.

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In charts 📊

May 2023 – Top 20 models

May 2023 - Overall segment sales

May 2023 - Category sales

May 2023 - sales map

May 2023 - buyer type

May 2023 - Model sales race