The Australian new car market has posted its best October result ever, with sales records broken for the fourth month running, as supply continues to catch up with demand.

According to official new-car sales results from the Federal Chamber of Automobile Industries (FCAI), 106,809 vehicles were registered in October – up 22% from 2022, when 87,299 cars were sold.

The previous highest October result was in 2017, when 95,763 vehicles were reported as sold.

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More than one million vehicles have been sold in Australia in 2023 (1,006,095), with the result achieved in October for the first time ever.

Top-selling brand Toyota sold 20,298 vehicles in October, a new record for the month, beating October 2020 when the brand achieved 19,505 vehicle sales.

The Ford Ranger took first place with 6215 units – nearly 500 units ahead of the Toyota HiLux (5766).

2023 Ford Ranger Raptor COTY
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Year-to-date, 50,067 examples of the Toyota HiLux have been sold in Australia, compared to 49,288 Ford Rangers.

New South Wales registered the most vehicles with 33,001 sales, ahead of Victoria and Queensland with 30,740 and 21,937 sales, respectively.

Western Australia (10,166), South Australia (6677), Tasmania (1996), the ACT (1552), and the Northern Territory (740) followed.

“The Australian market has demonstrated incredible strength and vitality throughout 2023, culminating in Australia reaching one million sales in October for the first time,” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.

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“After some challenging years through COVID, this milestone speaks to the range of vehicles available to consumers, affirming Australia’s position as one of the world’s most dynamic and competitive markets. It also reflects vastly improved supply chains.

“In the past six months, five have broken all-time sales records compared with previous years and in October 106,809 new vehicles were delivered to Australian customers.”

The FCAI said that while light commercial utes, large, or upper large SUVs accounted for 38.3 per cent of sales, all-electric vehicles “softened to represent 5.7 per cent of the market”.

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? Australia’s top 10 cars for October 2023

Ups and downs ⬆️ + ⬇️

The Ford Ranger overtook the Toyota HiLux in October.

In first place, the Ranger recorded 6215 sales – up 10% from October 2022 – with the Toyota HiLux following with 5766 units, up 18% from last year.

The Isuzu D-Max took third with 3198 sales, followed by the Toyota RAV4 in fourth place (2598).

The MG ZS placed fifth (2537), followed by the Mazda CX-5 (2509), the Toyota LandCruiser Prado (2320), and the Mitsubishi Outlander (2238).

The Ford Everest (1803) placed ninth, while the Hyundai Tucson took 10th place (1762).

In tables: Top-10 cars in October

RankModelOct 2023Oct 2022
1Ford Ranger62155628
2Toyota Hilux57664884
3Isuzu Ute D-Max31981951
4Toyota RAV425983222
5MG ZS25372293
6Mazda CX-525092352
7Toyota Prado23201461
8Mitsubishi Outlander22381619
9Ford Everest18031271
10Hyundai Tucson17621654

In tables: Top-10 cars year-to-date

RankModelYTD 2023YTD 2022
1Toyota Hilux50,06754,680
2Ford Ranger49,28837,743
3MG ZS25,68916,359
4Toyota RAV424,98630,370
5Isuzu Ute D-Max24,67721,195
6Tesla Model Y24,2676452
7Mitsubishi Outlander20,00015,619
8Mazda CX-519,40423,476
9Hyundai i3018,01318,659
10Hyundai Tucson17,93514,493

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? Australia’s top 10 car brands for October 2023

Ups and downs ? + ?

Toyota recorded 20,298 sales (▲ from 18,259 in October 2022). Year-to-date, the Japanese brand’s sales are down 10% at 174,957, representing 17% of the market.

Mazda finished second with 9316 sales (▲from 5775), while Ford trailed closely behind with 8605 sales (▲ from 7823) due to strong Ranger and Everest demand.

Hyundai, in fourth, recorded 6620 sales in October (▲ from 5289), while Mitsubishi placed fifth with 6395 sales (▲ from 5982).

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MG followed in sixth with 6102 sales (▲ from 5031), while Kia slipped to seventh with 5647 sales (▼ from 6380) and Volkswagen, in eighth, recorded 4361 sales (▲ from 3199)

Year-to-date, Kia remains ahead of its Hyundai parent, with 64,770 sales compared to 63,578.

Isuzu Ute placed ninth with 4160 sales (▲ from 2865) from its two-vehicle line-up, and Nissan, in tenth, sold 3756 vehicles (▲ from 1247).

In tables: Top 10 brands in October

RankBrandOct 2023Oct 2022
1Toyota20,29818,259
2Mazda93165775
3Ford86057823
4Hyundai66205289
5Mitsubishi63955982
6MG61025031
7Kia56476380
8Volkswagen43613199
9Isuzu Ute41602865
10Nissan37561247

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

RankBrandYTD 2023YTD 2022
1Toyota174,957194,669
2Mazda84,53679,669
3Ford69,80953,298
4Kia64,77066,580
5Hyundai63,57863,392
6Mitsubishi52,10966,505
7MG48,90938,891
8Tesla39,98515,132
9Subaru38,66628,264
10Isuzu Ute36,50130,020

And the rest…

BrandOct 2023Oct 2022YTD 2023
Subaru3603231838,666
GWM2968246228,855
BMW2470191821,510
Mercedes-Benz2036205123,981
Tesla1988110939,985
Audi1933128315,546
LDV1724151817,839
Lexus129461812,777
Suzuki1231152214,459
BYD101209718
Honda975111210,899
Land Rover8214827021
Chery68804335
Volvo Car6677219488
Skoda5766136601
Renault5116677033
Porsche4856925351
Cupra4402482969
Mini3901543696
RAM3836576112
Chevrolet3562602970
SsangYong3434024999
Jeep3264503980
Peugeot2241822069
Genesis1621251613
Fiat Professional981041076
Polestar782461867
Alfa Romeo7337562
Fiat6711662
Jaguar6250436
Maserati5742546
Lotus290152
Lamborghini2433193
Bentley156183
Citroen1237203
Ferrari1231184
Aston Martin1011120
McLaren71178
Rolls-Royce3339
Alpine000
Caterham000
Chrysler007
Iveco Bus013

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Size & Shape: Market segment results for October

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October 2023: New car sales by fuel type

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

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In charts ?

October 2023 – Top 20 models

October 2023 – Top 10 brands

October 2023 – Overall segment sales

October 2023 – Category sales

October 2023 – sales map

October 2023 – buyer type

October 2023 – Model sales race

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