Market Insight: Sales state of flux

THE Australian new-vehicle market has seen significant movement among the top-ten brands this year, with September 2023 VFACTS sales figures proving a boom month for the industry – but not necessarily for all of the key brands.

Nor has the trend toward a stronger sales year benefited all brands, as figures for the first three quarters of 2023 begin to form a picture of what annual results might look like. 

Four major brands have been hit heaviest so far in 2023. These include market leader Toyota with 154,659 deliveries(down 12.3 per cent from 176,410 this time last year), fourth-placed Kia with 59,123 sales (down 1.8 per cent from 60,200), Hyundai in fifth position on 56,958 units (down 2.0 per cent from 58,103) and Mitsubishi coming at sixth with 45,714 (down a substantial 25 per cent from 60,523).

Meanwhile, six of Australia’s 10 top vehicle brands have enjoyed a step up in sales – so far – in 2023.

These start with number-two in the market to the end of September, Mazda, with 75,220 sales (up 1.8 per cent from 73,894), followed by Ford with 61,204 deliveries (up 34.6 per cent from 45,475), MG at seventh with 42,807 (up 26 per cent from 33,860), Tesla in eighth, with 37,997 (up 171 per cent from 14,023), Subaru, ninth, with 35,063 (up 35.1 per cent from 25,946) and Isuzu Ute, 10th, with 32,341 (up 19.1 per cent from 27,155).

Gone from the top 10 YTD is Volkswagen, usurped by Tesla – which also leapfrogged Subaru and Isuzu – even though itmade a solid 47.1 per cent gain from the 21,643 units it sold between January 1 and September 30 2022 to 31,843 for the same period this year.

However, VW has simply returned to similar numbers it achieved in 2021 (32,315 units to the end of September).

Although Tesla has made significant year-to-date gains across just two models sold here (Model 3 and Model Y), the September 2023 monthly ledger is down 13.3 per cent on the same month last year (5177 versus 5969).

Noteworthy sales winner Ford recorded much of its 15,729 volume increase mostly thanks to the new Ranger; sales of the 4x4 ute climbed 9564 units (32.5 per cent) compared to the same period last year, while 4x2 versions grew by 1394 units (51.1 per cent) in that timeframe.

The worst-hit top-10 brand so far this year is Mitsubishi with 25 per cent (or 14,809 units) fewer sales compared to the same period last year. The triple diamond brand has seen the most decline in Triton 4x4 sales (down from 20,337 YTD last year to 10,048 YTD in 2023) while the Pajero Sport large SUV and ASX small SUV make up the bulk of the rest of the shortfall. 

Mitsubishi Australia product public relations manager Adam Davis told GoAuto the brand’s lower numbers so far this year were down to lack of supply and buyers holding off for the all-new Triton that is due to launch here in early 2024. 

“Mitsubishi had a very strong 2022 sales year with largely good supply of Triton and other models,” said Mr Davis.

“For 2023, we have seen increased supply pressure for ASX and Pajero Sport in particular; dealers are regularly saying they are able to sell every ASX they can put their hands on, for example. 

“When it comes to Triton, there is no doubting how important that nameplate is for us. With the all-new model arriving early in 2024, it's natural that the market is in an anticipatory phase, but we'd encourage anyone looking at the run-out current model to visit a Mitsubishi dealer.” 

Missing in action from the YTD top 10 sales chart is Nissan. A long time top-10 sales achiever in Australia, the brand saw a 35.8 per cent sales plummet in 2022, with a yearly figure of 26,491 units compared with 41,263 achieved in 2021.

Nissan is now just behind Volkswagen in 12th position this year, with 28,694 sales to date – but for monthly sales, it has crept ahead of Subaru with 4784 Nissans sold in September 2023.

Sales across every state and territory increased this month compared with September 2022. A total market of 899,286 units were sold to the end of September 2023, compared with 811,130 last year, an increase of 10.9 per cent.

With 110,702 sales being recorded in the month, this represented an increase of 18.3 per cent on the corresponding period in 2022 and a new September record.