In 2024, 1,237,287 new vehicles were sold in Australia (combined data from Electric Vehicle Council and VFACTS), the best result ever recorded. This achievement was set up thanks largely to the sales reached in the first half of 2024, with a loss of momentum in the market as the year progressed.
For the calendar year 2024, Toyota was once again the biggest selling brand with sales of 241,296 and 19.8% market share followed by Ford in second place (100,170/8.2%) who have leapfrogged over Mazda (95,987/7.9%), who are now in third. Kia consolidated fourth place for 2024 (81,787/6.7%) while Mitsubishi moved up as the fifth biggest selling brand (74,587/6.1%) displacing Hyundai and pushing them down to sixth place (71,664/5.9%).
“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,” said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Chief Executive Tony Weber.
The Number One selling vehicle in Australia was once again the Ford Ranger with 62,593 units sold in 2024. Ford Australia were also leaders in the Large SUV < $80,000 segment with the Everest and the Mustang for the Sports Car <$80,000.
BMW has reaffirmed its leadership as Australia’s top-selling premium automotive brand for the second consecutive year, recording 26,341 new vehicle registrations in 2024. This represents growth over the previous year and marks the second-highest result in the brand’s 45-year history of operations in the country.
BMW outperformed its closest competitor by more than 6,000 vehicles, Mercedes-Benz, who saw a second year of reduced sales, this time down by 17.8%. The other of the European “Big Three” car companies, Audi, also saw a reduction in sales, down by 19.5% for 2024. Meanwhile Porsche sold over 7,000 units in 2024, an increase in sales of 16.1%, and Volvo saw a reduction in sales of 20% for the year with under 9,000 vehicles sold.
Ferrari, McLaren, and Lamborghini all saw an increase in sales up by 14.4% (246 sold), 11.8% (95 sold), and 13.3% (273 sold) respectively. Automobili Lamborghini scored its the best annual result in its history with a total of 10,687 cars delivered during 2024, equivalent to an increase of 6% compared to 2023.
Rolls-Royce delivered 54 of their exquisite creations to customer in Australia, and increase if 10.2% above their 2023 result. In total 5,712 motor cars were delivered globally by Rolls-Royce in 2024 their third-highest annual sales figure on record with a 10% increase in Bespoke content value per motor car year-on-year; a record result for them.
Most of the other high-end luxury brands available in Australia saw a reduction in sales though with Aston Martin down by 1.9%, Land Rover by 6.1%, Lexus by 10.2%, Bentley by 20.1%, and Maserati by 40.9%. Another disappointment was Lotus even with their new EVs being released, with 12 only Eletres sold and five Emeyas, and with the Emira making up the bulk of sales, with 138 sold, they still saw a 15.3% reduction overall.
In 2025, Australia will see one the most significant changes to new car policy in decades with the introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) that commenced on 1 January 2025. The NVES will apply to all new cars supplied to Australia from that date and each vehicle manufacturer has a set average CO2 target for the vehicles they produce, which they must meet or beat. Over time, the CO2 target is lowered and in order to continue to meet or beat the target, companies must provide more choices of fuel-efficient, low or zero emissions vehicles.
Suppliers can still sell any vehicle type they choose but they’ll need to sell more fuel-efficient models to offset any less efficient models they sell. If suppliers meet or beat their target, they’ll receive credits. If they sell more polluting cars than their target, they will have two years to either trade credits with a different supplier, or generate credits themselves, before a penalty becomes payable. For example, if a supplier is above the target in 2025, it will be able work in 2026 and 2027 to generate credits to offset this. If a car maker cannot lower its interim emissions value for a given year to zero or less, it will be fined by the Federal Government at an indexed rate of $100 per gram per kilometre CO2 each vehicle sold is over the limit.
“While overall consumer preferences remain clear with SUVs and Light Commercial vehicles continuing to dominate the market and especially the top ten sales, many vehicles in these segments are either difficult or expensive to decarbonise. This will prove to be a significant challenge in meeting the extremely ambitious targets of the NVES.
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,” said Mr Weber.
The National Transport Commission’s Light Vehicle Emissions Intensity report for 2023 indicated the largest annual drop recorded in emissions intensity for new vehicles sold since reporting began in 2009, achieving a 5% reduction compared to 2022. This is despite the fact that the top three models sold in 2023 were the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and the Isuzu D-Max and the Toyota LandCruiser was also in the top 10.
In 2023, the average emissions intensity for new passenger vehicles and SUVs (excluding utes and vans) in 29 European countries was 107 g/km, significantly lower than Australia’s average of 150 g/km for similar vehicles. Our emissions intensity levels remain closer to those of Canada and the United States. If the NVES penalty of $100 per gram per kilometre of CO2 was applied to Australia’s average emissions intensity figure that would equate to a penalty of $15,000 per vehicle.
When we analyse the fuel type for Passenger, SUV, Light Commercial vehicle sales in 2024, excluding heavy vehicle sales, there was a 1.4% reduction in overall number of diesel vehicles sold and a 5.9% reduction for petrol powered vehicles, but they still make up 31.2% and 44.6% of all vehicles sold respectively.
Contrasting this hybrid vehicle sales increased by 6.1% in 2024 and now account for 14.6% of all new vehicles sold in Australia. Battery electric vehicles now make of 7.7% of all new Passenger, SUV, Light Commercial vehicles sold, a small increase of 0.2% over the previous year1. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) almost doubled in popularity and now make up 1.95% of all vehicle sales. Another small point to note is that 429 electric motor cycles were delivered in 2024, making up only 0.45% of that market.
“In Australia, ideally, we will continue to see governments continue to invest in EV recharging infrastructure across the country. The Commonwealth Government should apply revenue raised through NVES penalties to recharging infrastructure. In addition, I urge the Commonwealth Government to support its emissions reduction policies by considering ongoing consumer support such as a continuation of the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption for plug-in hybrid vehicles which is due to end on 1 April 2025,” said Mr Weber.
At present, from 1 April 2025, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle will not be considered a zero or low emissions vehicle under FBT law and isn’t eligible for the electric car exemption. A PHEV will continue to be exempt if your use of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle was exempt before 1 April 2025 and you have a financially binding commitment to continue providing private use of the vehicle on and after 1 April 2025.
While acknowledging the challenges ahead in 2025, Mr Weber said that new car buyers could look forward to an increasing range of vehicles with advanced specifications and technologies. The new car brands set to enter or re-enter our market, in the case of Cadillac, in 2025 include Deepal, Foton, GAC/Aion, Geely, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, Skywell, Xpeng, and Zeekr.
Stay tuned for another exciting year to come!
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.
- Data combined from the © Electric Vehicle Council of Australia Limited 2024. Based on information provided by and with the permission of the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia Limited & Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (or “FCAI”), VFACTS Service.
All other vehicle sales data sourced from Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (or “FCAI”), VFACTS Service.