VFACTS: Demand slows in November

AUSTRALIAN new vehicle sales figures released by the FCAI show continued softening demand when compared with the same month last year coupled with continuing preference for hybrid and plug-in hybrid driveline technology.

New vehicle sales totalled 99,091 units across November, a decrease of 11.6 per cent or 13,050 units on the same period in 2023, and a number FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says is reflective of current market trends.

“From an historical perspective, the 2024 year-to-date result is strong,” he said.

“However, the market is starting to show a number of clear trends. The first half of 2024 recorded market growth of 8.7 per cent compared with 2023. Since July, we have seen the market decline by 8.2 per cent compared with 2023.

“The Private buyer segment continues to struggle with a decline of 16.6 per cent on November 2023. This follows falls of 14.2 per cent in October, 17.2 per cent in September and 15.9 per cent in August.

“This is a disturbing trend which illustrates how cost of living pressures are impacting households.

“Consumer preference remains clear with SUVs and Light Commercial vehicles making up the top ten new vehicles sold while Passenger vehicles fell to a monthly market share of just 13.7 per cent.”

Mr Weber added that November recorded another disappointing result for the sale of electric vehicles while hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales accounted for 16.9 per cent of November sales compared with 9.9 per cent last year.

“The Australian experience with EVs is similar to many major markets overseas such as Europe, New Zealand and the USA,” he continued.

“Car makers are responding to regulatory settings that mandate an increase in the number of zero-emission vehicles by introducing new products. However, consumers remain cautious about making the shift to pure EVs and instead are purchasing hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

“The industry will continue its part by introducing an increasing range of more affordable, low emission vehicles while working alongside governments to address challenges such as recharging infrastructure which is critical to building consumer confidence for the transition to low emission vehicles.

Across 25.7 selling days in November 2024 (the same as for 2023), the FCAI noted a decrease of 507.8 unit sales per day

Overall, it says the passenger vehicle market is down by 4898 units (-26.3 per cent) over the same month last year; the SUV market down by 1735 units (-2.8 per cent); the light commercial vehicle market down by 6228 units (-23.3 per cent), and the heavy commercial vehicle market down 238 units (-5.2 per cent) versus November 2023.

Toyota again led the Australian new car market in November with sales of 20,562 units. It led second-place Ford by 11,842 units and 12.0 market share points, Ford tallying 8720 unit sales ahead of Mazda (7588), Kia (6410), and Mitsubishi (6205).

Toyota is likely to become Australia’s best-selling marque for a record 22 years, with 222,639 unit sales YTD.

It is now likely that Toyota will break its all-time new vehicle sales record set in 2008 (238,983 units), the importer doubling hybrid RAV sales against the same time last year, and clocking more than 100,000 hybrid sales for the year to date.

Popular new vehicle sellers for the month of November include the Toyota RAV4 with 5526 unit sales ahead of the Ford Ranger (4981), Toyota LandCruiser Prado (3590), Toyota HiLux (3572) and MG ZS (2794).

Across the regions, we find the ACT down 18.1 per cent to 1333 unit sales, NSW down 12.2 per cent to 30,490 units, the NT down 21.1 per cent to 727 units, QLD down 12.1 per cent to 21,320 units, SA down 9.5 per cent to 6591 units, TAS down 18.8 per cent to 1642 units, VIC down 9.8 per cent to 26,729 units, and WA down 12.2 per cent to 10,259 units.

Australia’s total new vehicle sales for the year now tally 1,137,621 units.

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (November 2024):

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (November 2024):

State by state (November 2024):

*All data supplied courtesy of the FCAI.