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Samuel Irvine
Cadet Journalist
8 Oct 2024
3 min read

Is the small sports car the latest victim of the cost-of-living crisis?

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' sales data for September shows sales across the enthusiast’s segment have fallen a whopping 40.6 per cent since this time last year.

Only 2967 affordable sports cars have found a home through the first nine months of this year, down from 4542, which suggests middle-income Australians could be rethinking their car purchasing priorities.

The Ford Mustang – 2023’s most popular affordable sports car – appears to be the segment's most impacted model on paper, with sales down 66 per cent overall from 1446 vehicles to 555.

The arrival of the all-new Mustang was severely affected by supply issues linked to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, meaning there was a big gap in the changeover between the old and new model, which has had a big impact on sales. 

With that in mind, the Toyota GR86 is the segment’s most affected model, with sales falling 49.6 per cent since this time last year from 798 vehicles offloaded to just 402.

The Subaru BRZ, which was a close second in sales to the Mustang last year before snatching top spot in 2024, isn’t far behind, with sales falling 40.5 per cent from 1286 to 765.

The Nissan Z has also seen a sales drop of 23.0 per cent from 365 vehicles last year to 281, while the Mini Cabrio has seen a drop of 29.1 per cent from 265 vehicles to 188.

The Mazda MX-5 is the segment's notable outlier with a sales increase of 32.5 per cent, up from 382 sales last year to 506 sales this year. The strong results come largely off the back of the updated model that went on sale earlier this year.

The sales data also suggests Australia’s top income earners aren’t being impacted by higher living costs, with sales results in the sports car segment priced above $200,000 revealing quite the opposite effect.

The segment has seen an overall sales increase of 26.1 per cent from 1012 vehicle sales last year to 1267 so far for 2024. The strong results are largely driven by the segment’s heaviest hitter – the Porsche 911 – with sales up 53.7 per cent from 432 to 664.

2024 Porsche 911
2024 Porsche 911

Lamborghini’s convertible and coupe range – consisting of the Revuelto and Huracan – has seen a healthy bump from 112 vehicle sales to 124. Those figures exclude the Urus SUV, which has enjoyed a sales rise of 57.9 per cent on last year.

Aston Martin’s convertible and coupe range – consisting of the DB12 and Vantage models – has seen its sales grow from 55 to 70, equating to a 27.3 per cent increase. There’s also been notable increases in the Mercedes SL-Class and Maserati’s coupe and convertible range.

Samuel Irvine
Cadet Journalist
Since visiting car shows at Melbourne Exhibition Centre with his Dad and older brother as a little boy, Samuel knew that his love of cars would be unwavering. But it wasn’t until embarking on a journalism masters degree two years ago that he saw cars as a legitimate career path. Now, Samuel is CarsGuide’s first Cadet Journalist. He comes to CarsGuide with an eagerness to report on a rapidly advancing automotive industry, and a passion to communicate the stories car buyers need to know most.
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