VFACTS January 2023: Ford Ranger tops new-car sales, Tesla Model 3 third

Sales of new motor vehicles in January 2023 continued their upward trend amid strong demand – however there were a few upsets among the top sellers.


Demand for new cars in Australia remains strong – despite chronic stock shortages, economic uncertainty, high inflation, and rising interest rates – official sales figures released today show.

However, many new motor vehicles reported as sold in January 2023 were ordered last year – and were delivered en-masse as large shipments arrived.

Data shows 84,873 new motor vehicles were reported as sold last month – an increase of 11.9 per cent compared to the same month last year.



The January 2023 new-car sales result was 0.6 per cent up compared to the five-year average (84,389) from 2015 to 2019 prior to the pandemic, and 4.2 per cent down compared to the January record of 88,551 set in 2018.

The Ford Ranger ute topped the January 2023 sales charts – ahead of the Toyota HiLux ute, a month after it notched up its seventh annual win in a row.

Toyota remained the top-selling car brand, ahead of Mazda in second, and Ford in third – only the Blue Oval's sixth Top Three finish in a decade.



Other highlights to come from the January 2023 new-car sales data: Kia continued to outsell its South Korean sibling Hyundai last month – after overtaking its in-house rival last calendar year for the first time since both brands were established in Australia in the 1990s.

After topping the electric-car sales charts – and ending the Toyota Camry's 28-year winning streak last yearTesla reported 3313 vehicles as sold and ranked ninth outright as a brand in January 2023.

The Tesla Model 3 placed third outright for the first time on record, and was the nation's most popular passenger car for the month, with 2927 deliveries.



Placing a surprise fourth was the Mazda CX-3 city SUV, which ranked as the best-selling SUV for the month.

The Toyota RAV4 – which was Australia's third best-selling new vehicle outright last year, top-selling SUV, top-selling hybrid, and top-selling passenger car – slipped to sixth on the sales charts in January 2023 amid long wait times and shipping delays.

Waiting times across most new cars remains three to nine months, though some models – such as the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid – have delivery delays of up to two years.



The January 2023 new-car sales result appears to show a lag between demand for new motor vehicles compared to fading consumer confidence across other sectors.

Sean Hanley, the sales and marketing boss of Toyota Australia – which accounts for one-in-five new cars sold – says demand for new cars has tapered from the extreme peaks during the pandemic, when Australians treated themselves to a new car in lieu of an overseas holiday. However customer orders still remain strong.

"We are still seeing strong demand," said Mr Hanley. "It's not as crazy as it was during the peak (of COVID) but demand has what I would describe as normalised.



"You've got to remember, pre-COVID demand was very strong, so to say demand has eased or has normalised back to those levels does not mean the industry is about to go backwards.

"We still have strong order banks and people are still enquiring about new cars and placing orders for new cars, even though they know there could be in some cases an 18-month to two-year wait."

As reported previously, sales figures for last year showed 1,081,429 new motor vehicles were reported as sold in 2022, an increase of 3.0 per cent compared the prior year – but 9.0 per cent less than the record of 1,189,116 set in 2017 and 5.8 per cent less than the five-year average prior to the pandemic.

It was the 14th time in the past 16 years Australians purchased more than ome million new cars in a calendar year.

Data below supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), and compiled by Alex Misoyannis and Ben Zachariah.

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 January 2023

Rank Model Volume January 2023 Change year-on-year
1 Ford Ranger 4749 up 46.3 per cent
2 Toyota HiLux 4131 up 15 per cent
3 Tesla Model 3 2927 N/A
4 Mazda CX-3 2417 up 167.1 per cent
5 Mazda CX-5 2189 down 31.9 per cent
6 Toyota RAV4 1958 up 37.4 per cent
7 Isuzu D-Max 1843 down 2.7 per cent
8 MG ZS 1842 up 16 per cent
9 Mitsubishi Outlander 1674 up 23.8 per cent
10 Hyundai Tucson 1615 up 108.4 per cent

TOP 10 CAR BRANDS IN January 2023

Rank Brand Volume January 2023 Change year-on-year
1 Toyota 13,363 down 12.8 per cent
2 Mazda 9407 down 4.1 per cent
3 Ford 6624 up 46.3 per cent
4 Kia 6006 up 8.8 per cent
5 Hyundai 5809 up 13.3 per cent
6 Mitsubishi 5276 down 19.2 per cent
7 MG 4015 up 13.5 per cent
8 Subaru 3601 up 32.3 per cent
9 Tesla 3313 N/A
10 Isuzu Ute 2671 down 1.6 per cent

Passenger cars: Top Three in each segment in January 2023

Micro Kia Picanto (328) Fiat/Abarth 500 (71) Mitsubishi Mirage (0)
Light < $30k MG 3 (1348) Mazda 2 (660) Kia Rio (499)
Light > $30k Mini Hatch (149) Skoda Fabia (57) Audi A1 (35)
Small < $40k Hyundai i30 (1565) Toyota Corolla (1116) Mazda 3 (824)
Small > $40k Volkswagen Golf (267) Subaru WRX (247) Mercedes-Benz A-Class (225)
Medium < $60k Toyota Camry (372) Mazda 6 (199) Skoda Octavia (122)
Medium > $60k Tesla Model 3 (2927) Mercedes-Benz C-Class (408) Polestar 2 (164)
Large < $70k Kia Stinger (172) Skoda Superb (33) Citroen C5 X (3)
Large > $70k Audi E-Tron GT (33) BMW 5 Series (26) Mercedes-Benz EQE (14)
Upper Large < $100k Chrysler 300 (0)
Upper Large > $100k BMW 7 Series/i7 (21) Mercedes-Benz S-Class (10) Porsche Panamera (8)
People Movers Kia Carnival (1029) Hyundai Staria (115) Mercedes-Benz V-Class (34)
Sports < $80k Subaru BRZ (116) Mazda MX-5 (86) Ford Mustang (75)
Sports > $80k BMW 4 Series coupe/convertible (63) Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe/convertible (41) Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman (31)
Sports > $200k Porsche 911 (24) Ferrari sports cars (17) McLaren sports cars (10)

SUVs: Top Three in each segment in January 2023

Light SUV Mazda CX-3 (2417) Hyundai Venue (672) Suzuki Jimny (593)
Small SUV < $45k MG ZS (1842) Mitsubishi ASX (1096) Haval Jolion (875)
Small SUV > $45k Volvo XC40 (408) Audi Q3 (403) Kia Niro (165)
Medium SUV < $60k Mazda CX-5 (2189) Toyota RAV4 (1958) Mitsubishi Outlander (1674)
Medium SUV > $60k Tesla Model Y (386) BMW X3 (384) Mercedes-Benz GLC (305)
Large SUV < $70k Ford Everest (1230) Toyota Prado (1182) Kia Sorento (1043)
Large SUV > $70k Mercedes-Benz GLE (321) BMW X5 (205) Audi Q7 (153)
Upper Large SUV < $120k Toyota LandCruiser wagon (996) Nissan Patrol wagon (253) Land Rover Discovery (1)
Upper Large SUV > $120k Lexus LX (82) BMW X7 (57) Range Rover (29)

Utes and vans: Top Three in each segment in January 2023

Vans < 2.5t Volkswagen Caddy (32) Peugeot Partner (5) Renault Kangoo (1)
Vans 2.5t-3.5t Toyota HiAce van (439) Hyundai Staria Load (252) Ford Transit Custom (241)
4x2 Utes Toyota HiLux (1087) Ford Ranger (499) Isuzu D-Max (206)
4x4 Utes < $100k Ford Ranger (4250) Toyota HiLux (3044) Isuzu D-Max (1637)
Utes > $100k Ram 1500 (405) Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (184) Chevrolet Silverado HD (41)
MORE:Ford Showroom
MORE:Ford News
MORE:Ford Reviews
MORE:Ford Ranger Showroom
MORE:Ford Ranger News
MORE:Ford Ranger Reviews
MORE:Search Used Ford Ranger Cars for Sale
MORE:Search Used Ford Cars for Sale
MORE:Ford Showroom
MORE:Ford News
MORE:Ford Reviews
MORE:Ford Ranger Showroom
MORE:Ford Ranger News
MORE:Ford Ranger Reviews
MORE:Search Used Ford Ranger Cars for Sale
MORE:Search Used Ford Cars for Sale
Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

Read more about Joshua DowlingLinkIcon