VFACTS February 2023: Best Feb since COVID as EV sales gain foothold

The Australian new car market is continuing to rebound, with last month posting the best February result since the 'before times' of 2019.

According to monthly results provided by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), it was a better February than last year, with 86,878 units registered compared to 85,340 this time in 2022.

It puts the market up two per cent for the month and seven per cent for the year so far.

Though it continued to hold top spot as Australia's most popular car brand, Toyota suffered the biggest mainstream loss at 31 per cent down, while electric carmaker Tesla once again entered the top 10 – appearing in ninth place both for the month and YTD.

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New South Wales sold the most vehicles with 27,600 units shifted, followed by Victoria with 21,894 and Queensland on 18,427.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said the result is particularly pleasing given global and domestic supply constraints still affecting the industry, and praised the rise in electric vehicle sales which grew to 5932 in February.

“Growing sales of electric vehicles [in particular] proves that where a battery-electric product exists which suits the driving habits, needs and finances of Australian motorists, they will purchase these vehicles,” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.

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🥇 Australia’s top 10 cars for February 2023

While the top two finishing places unsurprisingly went to the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes respectively, it was another impressive month for Tesla’s Model 3.

The new-generation Ranger led the way with 4473 sales compared to the HiLux's 3939, while the Model 3 sedan notched up 2671 units shifted to prove that Australia isn't done with sedans just yet.

In February, the CX-5 stole back its crown as best-selling Mazda from its compact CX-3 with 2600 cars registered – though the CX-3 still found a top 10 spot YTD coming in ninth with 3463 sales.

In the middle of the pack were the new Mitsubishi Outlander, supply-hit Toyota RAV4 and the MG ZS selling 2166, 2115 and 2047 cars respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 was one other ute – the new Isuzu D-Max – on 1931 sales followed by the Subaru Forester, which had a bumper month due to improved supply with 1709 sold, and a rare (but not unheard of) appearance from the MG3, which achieved 1622 registrations.

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In tables: Top 10 models for February 2023

In tables: Top 10 model year-to-date 2023

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🥇 Australia’s top 10 car brands for February 2023

Ups and downs 🔼 🔽

Toyota had another solid month with a leading 14,332 sales – although nowhere near as good as in February 2022 when it sold more than 20,000 vehicles.

Mazda finished second with 7667 sales (but also ▼ from 8782 in February 2022) and Ford took third with 6022 sales (▲ from 4610 this time last year).

Kia, in fourth, registered exactly 6000 sales for February (▲ from 5881), again outselling its sister brand Hyundai, which took fifth with 5504 sales (▼ from 5649). Mitsubishi finished sixth again with 5500 sales (▼ from 7813), MG held onto seventh place and jumped to 4363 sales (▲ from 3767), while Subaru ranked eighth with 4054 sales (▲ from 3151).

Improved shipping of Tesla’s Model 3 gave it ninth spot again with 3516 sales (no February 2022 figure recorded as it only began reporting from March last year), and Isuzu finished off the top 10 with 3156 sales (▲ from 2785).

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In tables: Top 10 brands for February 2023

In tables: Top 10 brands year-to-date 2023

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And the rest…

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The size and the shape: Market segment results

SUVs and utes represented 77 per cent of the total new-car market in February.

There were 47,888 SUVs sold across all size categories, taking 55 per cent of the pie, while utes and vans amounted to 18,750 sales in January or 22 per cent

Passenger cars of any size continued their downward trend, representing just 16,435 sales in February – giving them a 19 per cent share.

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In tables: New car sales by segment and size for February 2023

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New-car sales by fuel type in February 2023

Petrol and diesel cars still lead the way by a landslide compared to electrified cars – but EVs outsold traditional hybrids in February and the number of plug-in hybrids rose too.

Though the proportion of battery-electric vehicles (‘EVs’) is still well below 10 per cent of the market – achieving 6.8 per cent last month with 5932 sales – overall zero- and low-emission vehicles (which includes battery-electric, hybrids and plug-in hybrids) accounted for 13.9 per cent.

Battery EVs outsold hybrids, with the latter just behind with 5716 sales. The tiny Plug-in hybrid EV segment (PHEVs) showed just 454 sales in February.

Diesel models made up 26,443 of last month's sales, but petrol remains king – with 44,528 examples sold.

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In tables: New car sales by fuel type for February 2023

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Country of Origin: Where Australia’s new cars came from in February 2023

Japan remains Australia’s favourite source of cars, followed as previously by Thailand – but with a new twist as China bested Korea to take third place.

Australian buyers chose 24,805 Japanese cars in February, although that number is down from 31,138 at the same time in 2022.

Thailand followed as the source of 18,557 of our new cars (▼ from 21,086), while Korea – home to the Hyundai and Kia brands – accounted for 12,246 sales (just ▲ from 12,237).

However, Chinese production overtook Korean last month with 13,625 sales in February – up from 6357 for the same period in 2022.

Only one Chinese-owned brand continues to regularly place in the top 10 in the form of MG, but Tesla, Polestar and most Volvo models sold in Australia are now all sourced from China. Between them, they accounted for 8909 sales in February.

Chinese maker GWM sold 2353 vehicles, LDV accounted for 1652 sales, while all-electric brand BYD recorded a massive 770 sales up from just 267 last month.

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In charts 📊

February 2023 – Top 10 models

February 2023 – Top 10 brands

February 2023 - Overall segment sales

February 2023-2022 - Category sales

February 2023 - sales map

February 2023 - buyer type