Australia November 2023: Sales up 17.9% to all-time record, Hilux vs. Ranger battle heats up

The Toyota Tundra has landed in the Australian charts.

It’s a 7th monthly record in the past 10 months for the Australian new vehicle market, with 112,141 units sold this month, a new record for November. That’s a 17.9% year-on-year surge. The year-to-date volume is now up 12.6% to 1,118,236, also an-all time high at this stage of the year. Australian sales are now headed towards a new annual record, with the previous best being 1,189,116 in 2017. However many of these sales are deliveries of vehicles ordered months and even years ago and order books at dealerships are currently depleted, calling for a cooling of the market in 2024. Private sales are up 13.9% year-on-year to 56,793, fleet sales up 25.5% to 39,797, rental sales up 19.2% to 7,883 and government sales up 31.5% to 3,116. South Australia (7,281) is the best performing state/territory at +28.3%, followed by Western Australia (11,679) at +20.8%, Queensland (24,264) at +17.7%, New South Wales (34,728) at +17.5%, Victoria (29,618) at +16%, Tasmania (2,022) at +13.4%, Australian Capital Territory (1,628) at +13% and Northern Territory (921) at +13%.

Segment-wise, SUVs gain 19% to 62,347 and 55.6% share vs. 55.1% a year ago and 49.3% in November 2021, light commercials soar 24.8% to 26,772 and 23.9% share vs. 22.6% in 2022 and 25.1% in 2021 and passenger cars rise 10.7% to 18,470 and 16.5% share vs. 17.6% last year and 20.9% two years ago. Petrol sales account for 45% of the market at 50,474, diesel is at 37.4% and 41,946, HEV at 8.6% and 9,646, BEV at 7.7% and 8,646 and PHEV at 1.3% and 1,429. Looking at the country of origin of cars sold in Australia, Japan is ahead at 32,383 units (+16.5%) followed by Thailand at 26,407 (+23.5%), China at 18,036 (+24.9%), South Korea at 13,235 (+7.3%) and Germany at 5,438 (+77.2%).

Four of the Top 5 best-selling carmakers trail the market. Toyota edges up only 4.5% year-on-year but manages a 18.7% share, above the 17.5% it holds year-to-date. Mazda (+15.3%) and Ford (+14%) complete the podium while Hyundai (+21.7%) remains in 4th place. Mitsubishi (+12.8%) rounds out the Top 5 and ensures the 5 most popular manufacturers follow the same order as in October. Kia (-5.8%) endures the only year-on-year drop in the Top 17, ranking at #6 above a timid MG (+1.9%). Nissan (+148.9%), Isuzu Ute (+73.4%) and Volkswagen (+31.5%) close out the Top 10 in spectacular fashion. Below, Lexus (+124.2%), Tesla (+79.4%), BMW (+64.7%) and BYD (+48.8%) stand out.

The race to win the title of annual #1 best-selling model in Australia is coming down to the wire. The Ford Ranger (+24.2%) scores its 6th monthly win of the year in November and breaks its all-time volume record at 6,301. The Toyota Hilux (+8.5%) is 400 units below for the month. This means that year-to-date, the Hilux only has a 379-sale margin over the Ranger and could be toppled if the Ranger repeats its November performance into December. Note the Ranger easily wins the 4×4 ute battle at 6,000 sales vs. 4,843 for the Hilux. The Isuzu D-Max (+133.7%) lodges a fantastic performance at #3, a ranking it now also holds year-to-date vs. #7 over the Full Year 2022. The Tesla Model Y (+74.6%) rallies back up 37 spots on October to #4 above an even more dynamic Toyota Prado (+195.7%). The YTD SUV battle is also very tight, with the MG ZS currently sitting on top at 27,736 sales above the Toyota RAV4 (27,435) and Tesla Model Y (27,418). This month we welcome two full size US pickup trucks in the charts: the Ford F-150 at #213 and the Toyota Tundra at #269.

Previous month: Australia October 2023: Market above 1m units for the first time after 10 months

One year ago: Australia November 2022: Market up 17.9%, MG ZS #4 overall and best-selling SUV

Full November 2023 Top 49 All brands and Top 301 All models below.