The new car sales winners of 2024: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, BYD, Suzuki, GWM and more!

The Australian new car market is more competitive than ever before and the 2024 sales charts proved exactly that.

It doesn't matter whether you're a legacy brand or a new kid on the block, the electric transition has created ample opportunities for carmakers to thrive – and a considerable number did so this year.

So, without further ado, here they are...

GWM: 17.5 per cent increase

GWM’s rise to a top-ten brand in 2024 caught many by surprise, though people are quick to forget that this has been a long time coming.

As the first Chinese car brand to reach Australian shores in 2009, GWM has evolved considerably from its early ute foundations, with its SUV range now comprising the vast majority of its sales.

Specifically, the Haval Jolion, which GWM sold 14,238 of last year – a record for the brand for what is Australia’s second-cheapest hybrid car and 10th most popular in December. 

BYD: 64.5 per cent increase

We knew BYD was coming, but who expected this?

The Chinese Tesla-challenger came big in 2024 with a sales uptick of 64.5 per cent, primarily off the back of the fully-electric Seal and plug-in hybrid Sealion 6 models – which sold 6393 and 6198 units, respectively, in their first year.

With the Shark 6 ute and Sealion 7 on its way, who knows, by this time next year we could be calling it a top-ten brand.

Ford: 14.1 per cent increase

It was another strong year for Ford which maintained the title of Australia's best-selling vehicle with the Ranger ute. It clocked 62,593 sales in total.

Second to it, albeit much further behind, was the Ranger-based Everest SUV, which clocked 26,494 sales for the year – a 75.8 per cent increase on last year.

Together they accounted for nearly 90 per cent of Ford's sales, which puts them in a precarious position in 2025 with New Vehicle Efficiency Standards and stiff competition from BYD and GWM on the plug-in hybrid ute front.

Mitsubishi: 17.4 per cent increase

Australia’s love of Mitsubishi clearly isn’t waning despite the brand lacking an EV.

Sales of the Outlander SUV, which is offered in plug-in hybrid guise, skyrocketed in 2024, with 27,613 sales making it the second-best selling medium SUV in the country behind the Toyota RAV4.

It is also worth noting that the new-gen Triton had a strong year, with sales up a further 7.6 per cent to 14,737 for the year.

Toyota: 12.1 per cent increase

There are few things Australians love more than a Toyota.  The Japanese powerhouse grew its sales by 26,056 on last year, with the final tally of 241,296 sales exceeding the volume of both second (Ford) and third (Mazda) places combined. 

A big chunk of that was off the back of the RAV4, which nearly doubled its sales from 29,627 last year to 58,718. Toyota expects that to grow even further in 2025.

HiLux sales retracted by 14.2 per cent in 2024 and are likely to do so again in 2025, but it still performed strongly with 53,499 total sales. Expect some of the slack to be picked up by the brand new Prado this year.

Kia: 7.4 per cent increase

The South Korean powerhouse continues its march as one of Australia’s best-selling car brands, increasing its slice of the pie by a further 7.4 per cent in 2024 to 81,787 total sales.

Leading its sales was the Kia Sportage with 22,210 sales, a 41.0 per cent increase on the previous year.

The Cerato and Carnival models weren’t too far behind at 15,502 and 10,080 sales, respectively.

Nissan: 15.1 per cent increase

Regardless of challenging times for the brand globally, Nissan had a strong year in Australia, clocking up nearly 6000 more sales this year compared to last.

Those were greatly helped by the X-Trail, which had a huge 36 per cent increase in sales year-on-year.

Though it's far from the most compelling ute in Australia, the Navara continued to sell relatively well, clocking up 10,063 sales for 2024, a 15.5 per cent increase.

Chery: 114.0 per cent increase

So apparently selling super-affordable cars during a cost-of-living crisis was a winning ticket, who would’ve thought?

Chery shook things up in 2024 with its very affordable range, which doubled in size. The Omoda 5 reigned supreme, growing its sales from 5370 to 6162.

It wasn’t without help from the Tiggo 7 Pro (2734) and the brand new Tiggo 4 Pro (1918) and Tiggo 8 Pro (1789) models, though.

Suzuki: 24.6 per cent increase

Suzuki is proving that you don’t necessarily need a brand new line-up to achieve sales success.

As the brand’s most popular model, the Jimny (9697 sales), enters its seventh year, it shows no signs of slowing down, with sales up 93.9 per cent from 2023.

The same can be said for the Vitara (2456 sales), which enters its 10th year this year with a 45.6 per cent sales increase on last year.

Porsche: 16.1 per cent increase

Porsche’s strong year was largely off the back of its petrol Macan model, which is now out of production as the brand transitions to an electric-only Macan range.

Expect sales to dip strongly next year.

The second- and third-most popular models were the Cayenne and 911, which remain strong market favourites with respective sales increases of 15.5 and 40.3 per cent.

Honorable mentions

BMW: 0.6 per cent increase

While recording a modest sales increase, BMW retained its title as Australia’s best-selling premium brand for the second year running.

With 26,341 total sales, BMW saw strong results across its very dynamic line-up, which consists of EVs, plug-in hybrids, mild-hybrids, petrol and diesel.

Notable models were the electric i4 sedan, which saw a staggering 484.1 per cent increase on last year, along with the new X2, which saw a 565 per cent increase.

Chevrolet: 16.1 per cent increase

It sounds big on paper, but the 16.1 per cent increase only equates to 600 sales from 3703 in 2023 to 4303 in 2024.

Not to downplay it, though, it's a strong result for Chevrolet which sells its cheapest car in Australia – the Silverado LTZ 1500 premium – for $130,500, before on-road costs.