A slowing in the new vehicle market from late 2024 has continued into the new year.
FCAI figures for January, normally a quieter month, show sales for 86,804 vehicles down 3.3 per cent on the result for the same period in 2023.
The Toyota RAV4 continued its run of success, underscoring the consumer preference for hybrids from last year, as EVs experienced their lowest monthly sales rate in more than two years.
Full battery EV sales, not including Tesla or Polestar, were 3,011 vehicles across Australia down 38 per cent on January sales last year.
Hybrids by contrast were at a new high of 14,836 up 51 per cent and plug-in hybrids were up from a low base to 1908 vehicles, a jump of 88 per cent on last year.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber says weakness in the market in 2024 have continued through to the January result and that current economic conditions remained a major consideration for consumers in all market segments.
“Sales of hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles continued to grow and now make up nearly one in five of new sales representing 17.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent of sales respectively,” he says
“However, sales of battery electric vehicles were remarkably low and based on data from all sources, EVs accounted for just 4.4 per cent of sales, the lowest since October 2022. This is a major concern because consumers are turning away from EVs at the time the Commonwealth Government has introduced the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard.”
“The industry continues to increase the range of zero and low-emission vehicles providing consumers with an increased choice of models and varying price points. However, the Government needs to reconsider the steps it can take to build consumer confidence in EVs, otherwise their ambitious NVES targets will not be met,” Weber says.
Toyota was the market leader with sales of 18,424 during January, followed by Mazda (8,322), Ford (6,830), Kia (5,720) and Mitsubishi (5,681).
The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s top selling vehicle with sales of 5,076 followed by the Ford Ranger (4,254), Toyota HiLux (3,302), Toyota Prado (2,847) and the Mitsubishi Outlander (2,090).