Australia Full Year 2024: Toyota RAV4 teases Ford Ranger in record market

The Toyota RAV4 ranked #1 seven times this year.

Discover almost 80 years of Australian Historical Data here.

In January 2024, after a record 2023 we wrote: “The prospects for 2024 are less rosy as the increased cost of living starts to bite”. But in 2024, the Australian new car market has defied expectations with sales up a further 1.7% to a new record 1,237,287, eclipsing the 1,216,780 of 2023. It is the 16th year out of the past 18 that the Australian market surpasses the 1 million sales mark. Now forecasts for 2025 are “less rosy” again… SUVs are up 3.7% to 704,557 and 56.8% share vs. 55.8% a year ago and 53.1% in 2022, light commercials edge down -1.4% to  270,351 and 21.9% share vs. 22.5% in 2023 and 53.1% in 2022 and passenger cars are surprisingly up 5% to 221,937 and 17.9% share vs. 17.4% last year and 18.8% two years ago. Meanwhile heavy commercials are down -0.9% to 51,306 and 4.1% share vs. 4.3% in 2023 and 4.4% in 2022.

Once again private sales underperform at -2.5% to 611,783 (including Polestar sales to March and Tesla to June), whereas business sales gain 4.4% to 450,372. Sales to rental companies drop -4.9% to 68,301 and government sales surge 14.5% to 38,845. Looking at states and territories, the picture is mixed with 3 states in negative and 5 in positive. Western Australia is the best performer at +4.9% to 130,780, followed by South Australia at +2.3% and 80,789, Northern Territory at +1.7% to 10,441, Queensland at +0.7% to 263,337 and Victoria at +0.3% to 328,307. In contrast  the Australian Capital Territory struggles at -5.1% to 17,586 alongside Tasmania at -3.9% to 20,332 and New South Wales at -1.4% to 369,035. Petrol sinks -10.1% to 528,978, diesel holds better at -2.5% to 369,842 but hybrids surge 76% to 172,696 helped by Toyota models as we’ll see below. BEVs are up a shy 4.7% to 91,292 while PHEVs soar 100.2% to 23,163. Looking at country of origin, Japan is up 9.8% to 378,911, Thailand up 3% to 272,139, China up 8.6% to 210,113, South Korea off -2.4% to 157,760 and Germany up 1.2% to 57,544.

The Ford Ranger repeats at #1

Helped by much improved availability of its entire range, Toyota gains 12.1% year-on-year to break its all time annual volume record at 241,296, eclipsing its previous best of 238,983 units established 16 years ago in 2008. It is the 22nd consecutive month Toyota is the best-selling carmaker in Australia and 28th time in total. Toyota has been the #1 brand in Australia from 1991 to 1994, in 1998, 2000 and every year since 2003. The Japanese brand and stays above 200,000 sales for the 20th year in the past 21. Toyota remains the only carmaker to have passed this milestone in a single year. In 2nd place, Ford (+14.1%) does even better thanks to the success of the Everest. It overtakes a struggling Mazda (-4%) down to #3. This is Ford’s best ranking and first time above 100,000 annual sales in at least 14 years. 

Kia (+7.4%) stays at #4 while Mitsubishi (+17.4%) is very dynamic and passes Hyundai (-4.7%), MG (+13.3%) comes back to earth at #7, just as Isuzu (+6.2%), Nissan (+15%) and GWM (+17.5%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10. With MG and GWM, this is the first time in Australian history that 2 Chinese brands manage to finish in the annual Top 10. Subaru (-11.9%) and Tesla (-16.8%) drop outside the Top 10. Further down the ladder, Suzuki (+24.6%), BYD (+64.5%), Chery (+114%) and Porsche (+16.1%) stand out.

Ford Everest sales are up 75.8% year-on-year in 2024.

Over in the models ranking, the Ford Ranger (-1.2%) repeats at #1 with 5.1% share. It is the first time a Ford ranks #1 for two years in a row since the Falcon led the charts in 1992 and 1993. The Ranger topped the charts for 5 months this year. The Toyota RAV4 skyrockets up 98.2% to #2 as its hybrid variant finally became widely available. The RAV4 was #1 for 7 months including an uninterrupted stint from July to December. But the Ranger was dominant at the start of the year and managed to stay #1 annually. The Japanese SUV is the most popular in its segment for the 5th year in a row and smashes its record annual volume by more than 20,000 units. The Toyota Hilux (-12.5%) is now too old to fairly compete and drops one spot to #3. The Isuzu D-Max (-3.2%) is in the same boat at #4 . In contrast the Mitsubishi Outlander (+13.8%) gains two spots to end the year at a record 5th place with all time high volumes and share. The Ford Everest (+75.8%) is the success story of the year at #6, up 14 ranks on 2023. Meanwhile the Toyota Corolla (+20.2%) returns inside the Top 10 at #7. Other volume record breakers include the Kia Sportage (+41%) ranking inside the Top 10 for the first time at #10, the Mazda CX-3 (+17%), Isuzu MU-X (+27.2%) and Toyota Land Cruiser (+1.5%)

Previous year: Australia 2023: Ford Ranger ends 7 years of Toyota Hilux domination, record market

2 years ago: Australia 2022: Hilux breaks all records, Kia above Hyundai for the first time, MG up to #7

Full December and Year 2024 Top 51 All brands and Top 40 models vs. Full Year 2023 figures below.