VFACTS: December 2024

New Record for Vehicle Sales in 2024, but Challenges Loom for 2025

The Australian automotive industry is celebrating a record-breaking year for vehicle sales in 2024, but optimism is tempered by a challenging outlook for 2025. Economic pressures and stringent environmental regulations are set to test both manufacturers and consumers in the coming months.

A Record Year Amid a Shifting Market

December’s VFACTS report recorded 95,895 new vehicle sales, a 2.7% decrease compared to December 2023. Despite this, total vehicle sales for 2024 reached 1,220,607 – a 0.3% increase year-on-year and the highest annual figure ever recorded in Australia.

Tony Weber, Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), noted that strong sales in the first half of the year boosted the annual result. However, momentum waned in the second half as rising interest rates and living costs began to weigh on consumers.

“The second half of the year showed a concerning trend with sales in the Private segment falling to very low levels as interest rates and general cost of living pressures impacted Australian families.”

“Customers are also increasingly making choices regarding environmental outcomes and the associated total cost of ownership of moving to low emissions technologies. So, while the sales of battery electric vehicles are lower than expected, this is offset to a degree by an increasing number of buyers turning to hybrid and plug-in hybrid models,”

EV Sales and Environmental Pressures

While consumer interest in low-emission vehicles continues to grow, the uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has fallen short of expectations. BEVs represented only a small fraction of total sales, though hybrid (14.1%) and plug-in hybrid (1.9%) models offered some relief. Mr Weber said,

“The industry is responding to NVES by increasing the range of zero and low emission vehicles on offer. However, a continuation of current customer buying preferences will inevitably lead to the accrual of substantial penalties under the Government’s new scheme, which will create price inflation within the new vehicle market.”

Global Trends and Local Challenges

Australia’s slower-than-expected adoption of BEVs mirrors trends in other major markets like the UK, Europe, and the USA. Despite heavy investment in EV manufacturing, carmakers worldwide are struggling to meet emission targets as consumer demand lags.

Mr. Weber called for government action to support the transition to low-emission vehicles, including continued investment in EV charging infrastructure and the extension of consumer incentives such as the FBT exemption for plug-in hybrids, set to expire on 1 April 2025.

“If consumers do not want, cannot afford or cannot find new low emission vehicles that meet their needs, then no amount of effort from governments and car makers will make a difference.”

Market Leaders and Regional Performance

Toyota maintained its dominance in December 2024, with 18,657 cars sold, followed by Ford (8,305), Mazda (7,256), Kia (6,302), and Mitsubishi (5,754). The Toyota RAV4 topped the sales charts with 5,119 units, followed by the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Toyota Prado, and Ford Everest.

For the full year, Toyota led the market with 241,296 sales, capturing 19.8% of the market share. Ford (8.2%), Mazda (7.9%), Kia (6.7%), and Mitsubishi (6.1%) rounded out the top five brands.

For December 2024 sales in:

• Australian Capital Territory were down 8.9 per cent on December 2023 to 1,221
• New South Wales was down 1.7 per cent to 28,200
• Northern Territory was down 10.6 per cent to 664
• Queensland decreased 4.4 per cent to 20,259
• South Australia also decreased by 13.5 per cent to 6,175
• Tasmania had a decrease of 11.5 per cent to 1,862
• Victoria decreased 2.7 per cent to 26,755
• Western Australia increased 9.2 per cent to 10,759.

2024 Summary by Class

Class	Jan-24	Feb-24	Mar-24	Apr-24	May-24	Jun-24	Jul-24	Aug-24	Sep-24	Oct-24	Nov-24	Dec-24	Total
Passenger	16,434	19,610	17,611	17,314	21,252	21,065	17,291	15,166	14,488	15,527	13,621	14,005	203,384
SUV	49,830	57,773	64,631	54,135	59,737	65,248	56,590	56,541	56,440	56,152	60,612	57,877	695,566
Light Commercial	20,601	23,765	23,061	21,413	25,317	27,880	21,707	22,496	21,568	22,171	20,544	19,828	270,351
Heavy Commercial	2,917	3,875	4,344	4,340	4,793	5,466	3,898	4,125	4,524	4,525	4,314	4,185	51,306
TOTAL	89,782	105,023	109,647	97,202	111,099	119,659	99,486	98,328	97,020	98,375	99,091	95,895	1,220,607

Top Brands for Month of December 2024 YTD

Rank	Brand	Year to Date (Dec-24) Volume	Year to Date (Dec-24) Share	Year to Date (Dec-23) Volume	Year to Date (Dec-23) Share	Month (Dec-24) Volume	Month (Dec-24) Share
1	Toyota	241,296	19.8%	215,240	17.7%	18,657	19.5%
2	Ford	100,170	8.2%	87,800	7.2%	8,305	8.7%
3	Mazda	95,987	7.9%	100,008	8.2%	7,256	7.6%
4	Kia	81,787	6.7%	76,120	6.3%	6,302	6.6%
5	Mitsubishi	74,547	6.1%	63,511	5.2%	5,754	6.0%
6	Hyundai	71,664	5.9%	75,183	6.2%	5,025	5.2%
7	MG	50,592	4.1%	58,346	4.8%	4,218	4.4%
8	Isuzu Ute	48,172	3.9%	45,341	3.7%	3,558	3.7%
9	Nissan	45,284	3.7%	39,376	3.2%	4,224	4.4%
10	GWM	42,782	3.5%	36,397	3.0%	4,073	4.2%

Top 10 Models of December 2024 (by Sales Volume)

Rank	Vehicle	Dec-24	Dec-23	% diff
1	Toyota RAV4	5119	2192	133.5%
2	Ford Ranger	4493	7767	-42.2%
3	Toyota HiLux	3333	5143	-35.2%
4	Toyota Prado	2687	2475	8.6%
5	Ford Everest	2476	1496	65.5%
6	Isuzu Ute D-Max	2370	2833	-16.3%
7	Kia Sportage	2213	1546	43.1%
8	Nissan X-Trail	2096	940	123.0%
9	Mitsubishi Outlander	1991	1882	5.8%
10	Haval Jolion	1691	1083	56.1%

State/Territory Results (by Sales Volume)

State/Territory	Dec-24	Dec-23	% diff
Australian Capital Territory	1221	1340	-8.9%
New South Wales	28200	28675	-1.7%
Northern Territory	664	743	-10.6%
Queensland	20259	21188	-4.4%
South Australia	6175	7135	-13.5%
Tasmania	1862	2105	-11.5%
Victoria	26755	27508	-2.7%
Western Australia	10759	9850	9.2%

Top Selling Cars of 2024

Rank	Model	Volume 2024	Change year-on-year
1	Ford Ranger	62,593	down 1.2 per cent
2	Toyota RAV4	58,718	up 98.2 per cent
3	Toyota HiLux	53,499	down 12.5 per cent
4	Isuzu D-Max	30,194	down 3.2 per cent
5	Mitsubishi Outlander	27,613	up 13.8 per cent
6	Ford Everest	26,494	up 75.8 per cent
7	Toyota Corolla	24,027	up 20.2 per cent
8	Mazda CX-5	22,835	down 1.1 per cent
9	MG ZS	22,629	down 22.7 per cent
10	Kia Sportage	22,210	up 41 per cent

Source: VFACTS, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries