VFACTS March 2023: No passenger cars in the Top 10 for the first time

No traditional ‘passenger cars’ – hatchbacks, sedans, wagons or coupes – finished in the Top 10 sellers list for the first time in recorded Australian motoring history last month.

Official data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) today shows 17.7 per cent of new motor vehicles reported as sold in March 2023 were passenger cars.

This is down from 20.4 per cent in the same month last year, and shadowing a 55 per cent share for SUVs, and 22.6 per cent for utes and vans.

In what is believed to be a first, there were no passenger cars in the Top 10, which was instead made up of seven SUVs – including five in the same size category (mid-size) – and three utes.

MORE: VFACTS March 2023: New-car sales slow amid biosecurity delays, Toyota hit hard

Only one passenger car finished in the Top 10 for the first time in February 2022, but since then at least one or two models – a mix of the MG 3 city hatch, Hyundai i30 or Toyota Corolla small cars, and Tesla Model 3 electric sedan – have held onto a spot in the Top 10.

Data shows 17,182 passenger cars were reported as sold in March 2023, down 16.9 per cent on the 20,679 reported in March 2022 – and down 52 per cent on the 36,120 reported as sold in the same month five years ago.

The highest-placed passenger car last month was the Tesla Model 3, with 1640 reported sales (referring to deliveries, not orders taken) earning it 11th place behind the Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive (1745 sales), and Toyota RAV4 family SUV (1778 sales).

Tesla Model 3 deliveries are down 47 per cent compared to the same month last year – the first month of sales data the US electric-car specialist reported to the FCAI.

Behind the Model 3 is the Hyundai i30 in 13th – which finished in the Top 10 nine times in 2022 – with 1518 sales reported, down 38.2 per cent on March 2022.

It was followed by the MG 3 in 14th with 1427 sales – down 6.6 per cent, despite sales of all MG cars up 1.1 per cent – while the Toyota Corolla failed to make the Top 20, reporting 996 sales for the month, down 48 per cent.

Toyota was hit hard last month by quarantine delays – as shipments of new cars are cleaned on Australian soil for pests and seeds that may pose biosecurity risks.

Five years ago – in March 2018 – there were three passenger cars in the top 10, the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 and Hyundai i30, in third, fifth and sixth positions respectively.

There were three utes in the Top 10, like today – but with the Mitsubishi Triton behind the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, not the Isuzu D-Max as in March 2023 – and four SUVs: Nissan X-Trail, Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4.

Small cars accounted for 17.4 per cent of the market – just shy of what all types of passenger cars represented in March 2023. Five years on, small cars accounted for just 6.5 per cent of new vehicle sales.

Most of the passenger-car categories that have posted sales increases over the first three months of 2023 – compared to the same period last year – are higher-priced ‘luxury’ segments, with mainstream categories (which include the likes of the Toyota Corolla and Suzuki Swift) posting declines.

The categories that have grown include light (city) cars over $30,000 (up 17.5 per cent), small cars over $40,000 (up 90.9 per cent), medium cars over $60,000 (up 52.2 per cent), large cars over $70,000 (up 6.8 per cent), people movers under $70,000 (up 37.8 per cent), and sports cars under $80,000 (up 47.3 per cent due to the arrival of new models).