New motor vehicle sales posted their eighth month in a row of growth in February 2023 – despite a quarantine crisis in Australia’s ports, and long wait times remain on popular models.
Deliveries of new cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles in Australia grew in February 2023 compared to the same month last year – despite wait times on top-selling models, rising inflation and interest rates, and a quarantine traffic jam in ports and off the coastline.
Official sales data published today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) industry body list 86,878 new motor vehicles as sold – up 1.8 per cent on February 2022, when 85,340 vehicles were reported as sold.
The February 2023 result is down 5.4 per cent on the five-year March average prior to the pandemic (91,799) – and down 9.9 per cent on the all-time March sales record of 96,443 vehicles, set in 2016.
Although reported sales are up for the month, most vehicles are likely to have been ordered last year – and some in 2021, amid record wait times on top-selling models that stretch up to two years.
The growth of new-car sales last month was slowed by unprecedented bottlenecks off Australia’s coastline, which have seen dozens of car-carrying ships stuck waiting to offload as vehicles arriving in Australia are treated for biosecurity hazards such as seeds and pests.
When Drive‘s exclusive report was published on February 8, at least two-dozen ships were caught up in the crisis – estimated to be carrying more than 60,000 new vehicles.
Stevedores told Drive it typically takes 24 hours working around the clock to unload a vessel carrying 3000 new cars – processing about 125 vehicles per hour – but quarantine teams at each port cleaning each vehicle can only process nine cars per hour, during business hours.
Affected are vehicles manufactured in the Asia-Pacific from brands such as Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Honda, Nissan and Suzuki, as well as Chinese marques including MG, LDV and GWM.
Some customers of European cars have also been affected, as their vehicles are on the same vessels as those from other brands, which have been flagged for biosecurity hazards.
Amid the crisis in Australian ports and waters, Toyota remained the number-one new-car brand in Australia, reporting 14,332 vehicles as sold last month.
But it faced a rare stumble, the aforementioned figure a decline of 31.5 per cent compared to February 2022 – after last year’s strong sales result, and production that is unable to meet demand.
It was followed by Mazda (7667) and Ford (6022) – while South Korea’s Kia (6000) in third place continued to outsell its Hyundai sibling brand (5504) in fourth.
Electric-car specialist Tesla finished the month in ninth – with 3516 vehicles reported as sold, or two in three electric vehicles delivered last month – while two Chinese brands finished in the Top 10, MG and GWM Haval.
The top-selling new car last month remained the Ford Ranger ute (4473 sales, up 29 per cent) – for the third month in a row, after deliveries of the new model ramped up late last year – followed by the Toyota HiLux.
Toyota HiLux sales in February 2023 were down 18 per cent on the same month last year, after it posted its all-time sales record in calendar-year 2022.
The ute rivals were followed by the Tesla Model 3 electric car (2671 sales), Mazda CX-5 (2600 sales) and Mitsubishi Outlander (2166 sales) – while the Subaru Forester returned to the Top 10, with 1709 sales placing it ninth.
Only two passenger cars finished in the Top 10: the Tesla Model 3, and a surprise appearance from the budget MG 3 hatch from China, with 1622 sales.
Electric vehicles notched up 5932 sales in February 2022 – an increase of 889 per cent over the prior year, or a 303 per cent increase with Tesla sales excluded, as the electric-car giant did not report its monthly sales until March last year.
“This is the best February result since 2019. It is particularly pleasing given global and domestic supply constraints,” Tony Weber, chief of the Federal Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said in a media statement.
Data below supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), and compiled by Ben Zachariah and Jordan Mulach.
Note: The FCAI has reshuffled some of its categories for the new year, increasing the price limits, adding a new category (utes above $100,000), and moving some vehicles to different categories as their prices have risen (such as the Volkswagen Golf and Subaru WRX, which were previously in the small car under $40,000 category).
TOP 10 CARS IN February 2023
| Rank | Model | Volume February 2023 | Change year-on-year |
| 1 | Ford Ranger | 4473 | up 29.5 per cent |
| 2 | Toyota HiLux | 3939 | down 18 per cent |
| 3 | Tesla Model 3 | 2671 | N/A |
| 4 | Mazda CX-5 | 2600 | up 105.5 per cent |
| 5 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 2166 | up 29.5 per cent |
| 6 | Toyota RAV4 | 2115 | down 52.5 per cent |
| 7 | MG ZS | 2047 | up 4.8 per cent |
| 8 | Isuzu D-Max | 1931 | No change |
| 9 | Subaru Forester | 1709 | up 35.9 per cent |
| 10 | MG 3 | 1622 | up 12.9 per cent |
TOP 10 CAR BRANDS IN February 2023
| Rank | Brand | Volume February 2023 | Change year-on-year |
| 1 | Toyota | 14,332 | down 13.4 per cent |
| 2 | Mazda | 7667 | down 12.7 per cent |
| 3 | Ford | 6022 | up 30.6 per cent |
| 4 | Kia | 6000 | up 2.0 per cent |
| 5 | Hyundai | 5504 | down 2.6 per cent |
| 6 | Mitsubishi | 5500 | down 29.6 per cent |
| 7 | MG | 4363 | up 15.8 per cent |
| 8 | Subaru | 4054 | up 28.7 per cent |
| 9 | Tesla | 3516 | N/A |
| 10 | Isuzu | 3156 | up 13.3 per cent |
Passenger cars: Top Three in each segment in February 2023
| Micro | Kia Picanto (392) | Fiat/Abarth 500 (78) | Mitsubishi Mirage (1) |
| Light < $30k | MG 3 (1622) | Mazda 2 (504) | Kia Rio (489) |
| Light > $30k | Mini Hatch (123) | Audi A1 (39) | Skoda Fabia (29) |
| Small < $40k | Hyundai i30 (1416) | Toyota Corolla (1214) | Mazda 3 (561) |
| Small > $40k | Subaru WRX (323) | Audi A3 (281) | Volkswagen Golf (172) |
| Medium < $60k | Toyota Camry (392) | Skoda Octavia (137) | Mazda 6 (123) |
| Medium > $60k | Tesla Model 3 (2671) | Mercedes-Benz C-Class (371) | Polestar 2 (172) |
| Large < $70k | Kia Stinger (237) | Skoda Superb (31) | Citroen C5 X (8) |
| Large > $70k | Porsche Taycan (48) | Audi E-Tron GT (32) | Audi A6 (22) |
| Upper Large < $100k | Chrysler 300 (0) | ||
| Upper Large > $100k | Mercedes-Benz S-Class (9) | BMW 7 Series/i7 (6) | Porsche Panamera (5) |
| People Movers | Kia Carnival (1136) | Hyundai Staria (133) | LDV Mifa (31) |
| Sports < $80k | Ford Mustang (176) | Subaru BRZ (145) | Mazda MX-5 (43) |
| Sports > $80k | BMW 4 Series coupe/convertible (42) | Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe/convertible (41) | Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman (41) |
| Sports > $200k | Porsche 911 (34) | Bentley sports cars (24) | Ferrari sports cars (22) |
SUVs: Top Three in each segment in February 2023
| Light SUV | Mazda CX-3 (1046) | Toyota Yaris Cross (706) | Kia Stonic (565) |
| Small SUV < $45k | MG ZS (2047) | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (823) | Haval Jolion (813) |
| Small SUV > $45k | Volvo XC40 (491) | Audi Q3 (452) | Kia Niro (132) |
| Medium SUV < $60k | Mazda CX-5 (2600) | Mitsubishi Outlander (2166) | Toyota RAV4 (2115) |
| Medium SUV > $60k | Tesla Model Y (845) | Audi Q5 (378) | Lexus NX (282) |
| Large SUV < $70k | Subaru Outback (1233) | Isuzu MU-X (1225) | Toyota Prado (1123) |
| Large SUV > $70k | Mercedes-Benz GLE (392) | BMW X5 (235) | Audi Q7 (230) |
| Upper Large SUV < $120k | Toyota LandCruiser wagon (1022) | Nissan Patrol wagon (333) | Land Rover Discovery (3) |
| Upper Large SUV > $120k | Lexus LX (104) | BMW X7 (67) | Mercedes-Benz GLS (43) |
Utes and vans: Top Three in each segment in February 2023
| Vans < 2.5t | Volkswagen Caddy (50) | Peugeot Partner (4) | Renault Kangoo (1) |
| Vans 2.5t-3.5t | Toyota HiAce van (410) | Hyundai Staria Load (252) | LDV G10/G10+ (235) |
| 4×2 Utes | Toyota HiLux (1062) | Ford Ranger (691) | Isuzu D-Max (338) |
| 4×4 Utes < $100k | Ford Ranger (3782) | Toyota HiLux (2877) | Isuzu D-Max (1593) |
| Utes > $100k | Ram 1500 (501) | Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (129) | Chevrolet Silverado HD (66) |
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