Australia July 2023: Ford Ranger back on top, MG ZS #1 SUV YTD in record market

The Ford Ranger is the best-selling vehicle in Australia in July.

9/08 update: Now with Top 290 All models ranking.

Easing supply issues and the delivery of long-overdue orders have the Australian new vehicle market break its July volume record at 96,589 units, up 14.7% year-on-year. The previous best was reached in 2017 at 92,754. The year-to-date tally is the highest in 5 years, up 9% to 678,618 vs. 691,073 in 2018. Private sales outpace the market at +17.4% to 52,294, business fleets gain 14.2% to 32,409, rental sales edge up 4.5% to 6,093 and government fleets soar 26.9 to 2,607. All states and territories are up this month. Tasmania is the most dynamic at +33.9% to 1,777 sales, followed by Victoria up 22.7% to 27,097, Australian Capital Territory at +22.4% to 1,438, Western Australia up 21.6% to 9,797, Northern Territory up 19.4% to 903, South Australia up 17% to 6,612, New South Wales up 11.3% to 29,516 and Queensland up 4.3% to 19,719.

SUVs hold 58.9% of the Australian market in July vs. 52.9% a year ago and 49.9% in 2021, light commercials (including “utes”, Australian slang for pickups) are at 19.9% share vs. 23.8% in 2022 and 24.9% in 2021, and passenger cars hold 17.7% vs. 19% last year and 20.9% in 2021. Petrol is up 9.5% to 48,236, diesel down -3.5% to 27,791, HEV up 42.8% to 9,696, BEV up 1024% to 6,846 and 7% share and PHEV up 44.3% to 834. As for sales by provenance, Japan dominates at 28,738 units (+11.3%), ahead of Thailand at 20,086 (+6.9%), China at 15,853 (+130.1%), South Korea at 13,469 (+4.8%) and Germany at 4,796 (+26.3%).

In the brands ranking, Toyota slows down its fall to -1.9% to reach 19.9% share vs. 16.4% so far this year as supply bottlenecks get addressed. Mazda (+5.4%) edges up to 8.6% of the market while Ford (+60.1%) posts another fantastic score, boosted by the new Ranger and Everest. Hyundai (-4%) and Kia (-8.4%) disappoint, however Kia retains an advantage over sister brand Hyundai in the year-to-date charts. MG (+77.2%) has resumed its phenomenal progression and ranks 6th for the month. Tesla is up 98250% (!) year-on-year to rank #8 as it also does year-to-date. Subaru (+25.9%) and Isuzu Ute (+21.5%) close the Top 10 in solid fashion. Below, notice Volkswagen (+46.8%), GWM (+20.5%) and Lexus (+159.3%).

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (+75.3%) reclaims the top spot for the third time this year after January, February and April. It distances its archenemy the Toyota Hilux (-27.5%) in deep trouble at #2 but still #1 year-to-date with a 879 sales advantage over the Ranger. The Ranger is far ahead of the Hilux in the lucrative 4×4 ute battle this month at 4,828 vs. 3,777. The MG ZS (+213.4%) is up one spot on July to reach a record third place, also hit in December 2022. The ZS breaks its volume (3,852) and share (4%) records this month. Pushed down to #4 is the Tesla Model Y at 3.4% share, above the 2.6% it commands year-to-date. Note the MG ZS (+50.2%) slips above the Tesla Model Y to hold the #1 SUV spot year-to-date while traditional leader the Toyota RAV4 (-28.7%) is down to #5. The Toyota Corolla (+8.2%) climbs back up 6 spots on June to #5 above the Isuzu D-Max (+7.3%) and Hyundai i30 (+6.1%) also soft. The Toyota Prado (+75.4%) benefits from increased stock with the Mitsubishi Outlander (+35.7%) also very dynamic at #10. Among recent launches, the Subaru Crosstrek stays at #20, the Toyota Corolla Cross is up 27 ranks on last month to a record #22 and the BYD Atto 3 is down 10 spots to #27.

Previous month: Australia June 2023: Tesla breaks volume record, Model Y #2, Mazda BT-50 at highest ever

One year ago: Australia July 2022: Hyundai, Kia, Hilux impress in market up 0.4%

Full July 2023 Top 48 All brands and Top 290 All models below.