Australia January 2023: Ford Ranger #1, Tesla Model 3 #3 in market up 11.9% to best January in 5 years

The Ford Ranger is the best-selling vehicle in Australia for the third time in the past 4 months.

6/02 update: Now with Top 275 all models.

Australian new vehicle sales post a 7th consecutive month of year-on-year gains in January at +11.9% to 84,873 units, the highest January total since 2018. It’s worth noting that most cars sold in January were ordered months ago and there is a lag between a strong market and the potential cooling of demand in the wake of inflation and rising interest rates. Private sales trail the market slightly at +8.6% to 46,202 whereas business fleets are up 13.6% to 28,935 and sales to rental companies up 31.9% to 4,605. Government sales edge up 0.5% to 2,104. The best-selling segments are medium SUVs with 20.8% share, 4×4 pickups at 16.7%, small SUVs at 13%, large SUVs at 12.9% and light SUVs at 6.7%.

All regions are up, with New South Wales up 15% to 26,484, Victoria up 9.7% to 22,367, Queensland up 14.3% to 18,766, Western Australia up 4.3% to 7,901, South Australia up 11.9% to 5,786, Tasmania up 2.9% to 1,510, Australian Capital Territory up 18.6% to 1,394 and Northern Territory up 7.8% to 665. SUVs are the engine of growth of the Australian market this month, up 25.5% year-on-year to 46,698 and 55% share vs. 52.2% in January 2022 and 52.1% in January 2021. LCVs edge up 1.6% to 18,546 and 21.9% share vs. 24.1% a year ago and 21.9% in 2021. For once Passenger Cars are up year-on-year at +5.5% to 16,602 and 19.6% share vs. 20.7% in January 2022 and 23.3% two years back.

The Tesla Model 3 is up to a record third place in January.

As for sales by fuel type, petrol is up 7.8% to 44,831 units, diesel up 1.9% to 26,589, hybrid up 3.3% to 5,135, EV up 682.6% to 4,852 (January 2022 data didn’t include Tesla) and PHEV up 42.7% to a meagre 438 units. Looking at the country of origin of vehicles sold in Australia, Japan continues to lead the way but is down -14.5% year-on-year to 22,538. Meanwhile Thailand is up 14.2% to 20,441 as the world factory of pickup trucks, South Korea is up 12.9% to 12,606 with China (+99.3%) soaring again to 12,486, about to rank #3 shortly. Germany is up 28.5% to 3,076 in 5th place.

Toyota (-12.8%) endures a poor result this month and falls to 15.7% share, its lowest in 6 years: since January 2017 (14.8%). Mazda (-4.1%) is also in negative but easily snaps the 2nd spot with a strong 11.1% share, its highest since March 2022 (11.1% also). Ford (+46.3%) surges ahead on the back of the success of the new gen Ranger and Everest. The manufacturer is on the monthly podium for only the 5th time in the past decade after, June 2021, July 2021, October 2022 and December 2022.

The Mazda CX-3 is the best-selling SUV in the country for the first time.

Kia (+8.8%) once again distances sister brand Hyundai (+13.3%), with both labels rounding out the Top 5. Up to a record #5 in December, MG (+13.5%) falls back to #7 which is its Full Year 2022 ranking, but still manages to outpace the market. Subaru (+32.3%) is very strong at #8 while Tesla cracks the Top 10 for the first time since last September at #9. GWM Haval (+115.2%), Ram (+108.7%), Skoda (+105.8%), Chevrolet (+100.8%), Mini (+84.2%), Audi (+72.1%), Volkswagen (+66.5%) and LDV (+35.3%) stand out below.

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (+46.3%) is boosted by the new generation, signing a second consecutive win and third pole position in the past four months. Could 2023 be the year the Ranger finally topples the Hilux in the annual charts? This month the Hilux (+15%) is some distance away at 4.9% share vs. 5.6% for the Ranger. The Ranger also wins the 4×4 battle by far with 4,250 sales vs. 3,044 for the Hilux 4×4. In third place thanks to the fulfilment of a back log of orders we have the Tesla Model 3, the only passenger car in the Top 11. It breaks its ranking and share records at 3.4% vs. 3.1% in March 2022. The 4th spot is also a surprise: the Mazda CX-3 (+167.1%) is the best-selling SUV in the country for the first time, distancing the Mazda CX-5 (-31.9%) while the Toyota RAV4 (+37.4%) may be up strongly year-on-year but still suffers from stock shortage and extra-long waiting time: delivery delays are up to 2 years for the RAV4 Hybrid.

Previous post: Australia Full Year 2022: Hilux breaks all records, Kia above Hyundai for the first time, MG up to #7

One year ago: Australia January 2022: Market down -4.8%, MG ZS and MG3 in Top 10, Mazda breaks share record

Full January 2023 Top 50 all brands and Top 276 all models below.