Another record month for Australian new car sales

A total of 105,023 vehicles were sold in February, an increase of 20.9 per cent compared with February 2023.

Not only were sales up across every state and territory, every SUV, ute and van segment was up, while small and mid-sized passenger cars also saw a bump.

Sales of traditional petrol and diesel vehicles were up 4.5 and 21.1 per cent respectively, while electric vehicle (EV) sales jumped 70.4 per cent and hybrids saw an even greater increase of 100.2 per cent.

EVs accounted for 9.6 per cent of the market and the Tesla Model 3 was the third best-selling vehicle overall, behind the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

However, the peak body for new car brands cited the fact just one electric ute was sold the LDV eT60, which is more than double the price of its turbo-diesel counterpart as a reason the Australian Government should be cautious about its proposed efficiency and emissions standards.

"Australian motorists' strong preference for utes, accounting for 20.3 per cent of sales this month, demonstrates the challenges with the proposed New Vehicle Emissions (sic) Standard," said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) chief executive Tony Weber.

"Out of 21,327 utes sold in February, only one was an EV.

"Growing sales of electric vehicles across other market segments proves that where a battery electric product exists which suits the driving habits of Australian motorists, work and recreation needs they will purchase these vehicles."

Toyota was comfortably ensconced in the top spot, though HiLux 42 sales sunk 51.4 per cent year-over-year, the Kluger fell by 19.4 per cent, and the Prado dropped by 9.3 per cent ahead of the launch of a new-generation model mid-year.

Mazda sat in second with 7350 sales, down 4.1 per cent. It was let down by a drop in CX-5 sales (down 36.8 per cent) plus the drying up of CX-9 stock, though the updated Mazda 2 also sunk by 35.1 per cent.

Ford was up 20.8 per cent to 7275 sales, and even a drop in Ranger 42 sales couldn't stop the Ranger from being Australia's best-selling vehicle. Everest sales were up 40.8 per cent and Ranger 44 sales by 26.2 per cent.

Just outside of the top three was Nissan, which had a huge month especially considering it sat in 12th place last month.

Nissan sales were up 157.2 per cent over February 2023, with the X-Trail up 283.5 per cent, the Patrol by 206.3 per cent, the Juke by 223.4 per cent, and the Navara up by 181 per cent.

After fending off Kia in January, Hyundai was overtaken by its in-house rival (5703 sales vs 6141 sales). Both were outsold by Mitsubishi, which recorded 6411 deliveries.

The top 10 was rounded out by Tesla, Isuzu Ute and MG.

With updated Model 3 deliveries back on track, Tesla wasn't outsold by BYD again.

After snatching the crown from the Toyota HiLux in 2023, the Ford Ranger was once again Australia's best-selling vehicle.

Not only that, it managed to beat the HiLux in 42 ute sales typically, the Ranger only beats the HiLux in 44 sales. The Isuzu D-Max also pushed past the HiLux in 42 sales.

The Tesla Model 3 overtook the Model Y in sales, no doubt buoyed by a recent update and the resumption of sales following a brief pause to address a compliance issue.

The Nissan X-Trail stormed past all its mid-sized SUV rivals bar the Toyota RAV4.

MORE: VFACTS January 2024: Record start to the year but slower times ahead

Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au