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John Law
Deputy News Editor
4 Dec 2024
4 min read

The Toyota RAV4 hybrid topped sales charts again in November, but it isn’t likely to take the number one spot from the Ford Ranger this year. 

The gap between the two models year-to-date has narrowed to 4501, but the RAV4 will need an almighty December in what is a cooling new-car sales environment to triumph.

Speaking of, while Toyota was looking to be a record breaker a few months ago, November’s soft sales result of 99,091 — down 11.6 per cent on 2023 — represents a normalisation after supply-restricted times.

“From an historical perspective, the 2024 year-to-date result is strong. The market is starting to show a number of clear trends. The first half of 2024 recorded market growth of 8.7 per cent compared with 2023,” said Federal Chamber Automotive Industries (FCAI) Chief Executive Tony Weber.  

“Since July, we have seen the market decline by 8.2 per cent compared with 2023. The Private buyer segment continues to struggle with a decline of 16.6 per cent on November 2023. This follows falls of 14.2 per cent in October, 17.2 per cent in September and 15.9 per cent in August. This is a disturbing trend which illustrates how cost of living pressures are impacting households,” added Weber.

Mazda CX-5 Akera
Mazda CX-5 Akera

The new-car market is projected to shrink from this year's likely 1.2-million figure to around 1.15 next year.

That said, market leaders remained strong last month. The RAV4 notched up a massive 5526 sales in November, all of which were hybrids. Ford’s Ranger had a softer month with 4981 sales, down 20.9 per cent on last year.

Following its market launch last month the Toyota Prado shot up sales charts, the family-friendly 4x4 achieving 3590 sales and an all-time record. It was followed by the Toyota HiLux ute (3572), MG ZS small SUV (2794) and Ford Everest 4x4 (2737). 

Toyota Prado Altitude
Toyota Prado Altitude

The Isuzu D-Max’s figure was 40 per cent down on November last year yet it still managed eighth spot with 2180 sales followed by the Kia Sportage medium SUV (1766) and Mazda’s evergreen CX-5 (1727). 

Toyota is the overall leader bolstered by Australia’s love for hybrid engines. The powertrain style boomed in 2024 with sales up 79.3 per cent, and Toyota delivered about 100,000 of the 158,242 total. Plug-in hybrids are finding their feet with more affordable rivals doubling sales.

Toyota RAV4 GXL hybrid
Toyota RAV4 GXL hybrid

Despite the FCAI’s assertion that electric car sales are down, they are not. Polestar and Australia’s biggest EV seller Tesla report sales separately, bringing this year’s total deliveries to 93,824 — a 16.3 per cent growth for 8.3 per cent market share. 

Not only is Toyota way out in front for sales this year at 222,639 sales total, it is set to break an all-time yearly sales record not only for itself, but any brand in Australian history. November was a little tougher with sales contracting 2.1 per cent but 20,562 deliveries is still comfortably ahead of second-place Ford (8720).

Ford Ranger
Ford Ranger

Mazda looks like it will stay in third place behind Ford this year with 7588 sales in November. Kia is cementing its lead over Mitsubishi (6205) and cousin-company Hyundai (5606) with sales only likely to grow next year when Tasman arrives. 

In seventh place was MG, though a strong result from GWM saw it in eighth spot with 3566 sales. The Chinese brand was closely trailed by Isuzu (3386) and Nissan (3350) in November.

Top 10 models November 2024

ModelSales (November 2024)Change (per cent)
Toyota RAV45526125.6%
Ford Ranger4981-20.9%
Toyota Prado359016.2%
Toyota HiLux3572-39.5
MG ZS279436.5
Ford Everest273797%
Mitsubishi Outlander24723.8%
Isuzu Ute D-Max2180-41%
Kia Sportage176613.3%
Mazda CX-51727-23.4%

Top 10 brands November 2024

BrandSales (November 2024)Change (per cent)
Toyota20,562-2.1%
Ford87206.8%
Mazda7588-12.9%
Kia641011.1%
Mitsubishi6205-1.0%
Hyundai5606-16.6%
MG5072-9.5%
GWM3386-3.1%
Isuzu3350-30.2%
Nissan3566-21.5%

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and Electric Vehicle Council

John Law
Deputy News Editor
Born in Sydney’s Inner West, John wasn’t treated to the usual suite of Aussie-built family cars growing up, with his parents choosing quirky (often chevroned) French motors that shaped his love of cars. The call of motoring journalism was too strong to deny and in 2019 John kickstarted his career at Chasing Cars. A move to WhichCar and Wheels magazine exposed him to a different side of the industry and the glossy pages of physical magazines. John is back on the digital side of things at CarsGuide, where he’s taken up a role as Deputy News Editor spinning yarns about the latest happenings in the automotive industry. When he isn’t working, John can be found tooling around in either his 2002 Renault Clio Sport 172 or 1983 Alfasud Gold Cloverleaf.  
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