Australian drivers have broken the new car sales record by a razor-thin margin, figures reveal, with less than half a percentage point left in the race.
But some vehicle types proved significantly more popular than others during 2024, and industry groups warned the market faced a difficult road ahead amid changing laws and challenging economic conditions.
The Federal Chamber of the Automotive Industry published figures on Monday showing that sales of new vehicles fell in December for the fifth consecutive month, by 2.7 percent.
However, high vehicle sales recorded in early 2024 helped the market set an annual record, surpassing 2023 sales by 0.3 percent or less than 4,000 purchases.
Few brands within the industry would celebrate the milestone, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said, as data showed consumers were opting to keep existing vehicles for longer.
“The second half of the year showed a worrying trend, with sales in the private segment falling to very low levels as interest rates and general cost of living pressures impacted Australian families,” he said.
However, some vehicle types bucked the downward trend: SUVs recorded a 10 percent sales increase in December and a 2.4 percent increase over the year, while hybrid vehicles recorded their highest sales to date.
Toyota’s RAV4 hybrid SUV took first place on the December list that was dominated by other SUVs.
Sales of plug-in hybrid cars doubled during 2024 to more than 23,000, while sales of hybrid vehicles rose 76 percent to more than 172,000, outpacing electric rivals.
However, sales of electric vehicles accelerated in December, with data from the FCAI and the Electric Vehicle Council showing that motorists bought more than 8,300 electric vehicles during the month, representing an increase of 23 percent and 8.3 percent of the general market.
Electric vehicle sales growth remained stable in 2024, with data from both groups showing more than 91,000 sales during the year, up from more than 87,000 in 2023.
More electric vehicles are expected to arrive in Australia during the year after the federal government introduced the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) in January that will set an emissions cap on each car manufacturer’s fleet.
A range of light commercial vehicles will soon hit the market, although sales of light commercial vehicles have declined.
VW, MG, BYD, Zeekr, Hyundai and Kia are among the brands expected to launch electric models in Australia in the coming months.
But many larger SUVs and utes that Australians bought in large numbers could be “difficult or expensive to decarbonise”, Weber said, and penalties imposed on highly polluting vehicles could increase their prices.
“The industry is responding to NVES by increasing the range of zero and low emission vehicles on offer,” he said.
“If consumers don’t want to, can’t afford it, or can’t find new low-emission vehicles that meet their needs, no amount of effort by governments and automakers will make any difference.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the popularity of utes fell in December, sales figures show, with sales of light commercial vehicles falling by 22 per cent.
Mitsubishi Outlander remains popular in Australia
Utes also made up just three of the top 10 best-selling vehicles in Australia during the month, with the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max taking second, third and sixth place respectively.
Toyota’s RAV4 hybrid SUV took the top spot on the December list which was dominated by other SUVs including the Ford Everest, Kia Sportage and Nissan X-Trail.