Toyota RAV4 takes top April sales spot ahead of Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux

The highest April new vehicle sales on record were led by the Toyota RAV4 SUV, which topped the showroom charts for the first time in almost four years.

Toyota was also the top-selling marque for April, continuing its long-time market dominance.

April 2024 saw 97,202 new vehicle registrations, an increase of 18 percent compared with April 2023, if not matching the 100,000-plus figures of February and March.

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The April record combined with the first quarter sales have seen a record for the first four months of the year, with 50,515 more vehicles sold than at the end of April 2023.

Every major segment posted higher year-on-year sales, with SUVs making up 56 percent of sales to be the largest slice of the April pie.

Light commercial made up 22 percent of registrations, passenger cars 18 percent and heavy commercial the final 4.5 percent.

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Hybrid sales were up a staggering 195 per cent for the month, with 16,466 sold in April – compared to 5592 in April 2023 – with 29,976 sold year to date to be up 138 percent year-on-year.

"We are witnessing a shift in consumer preferences towards more sustainable and efficient vehicles,” said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) chief executive Tony Weber.

April’s 1300 plug-in hybrid sales compared to 545 in April 2023, with 2720 sold so far for a 136 percent year-on-year increase.

Sales of electric vehicles decreased compared to April 2023 – down 5 percent with 6194 sold – but year-to-date EVs remain up 32 percent with 31,662 compared to 23,926 at this time last year.

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Australia’s Top 10 Vehicles – April 2024

The Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling car, knocking off the Ford Ranger for outright honours in April with 5857 sales against the Ranger’s 5569.

Supply issues again show false dawns and irregular sales performances so far, with the RAV4’s sales up 166 percent against April 2023, the Ranger's increasing 56 percent.

The Toyota HiLux was third with 4693 sales, ahead of the Ford Everest jumping from seventh to fourth with 2400 sales.

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The Isuzu D-Max was only 20 units behind the Everest to place fifth, ahead of the Toyota Corolla (2097), the Toyota LandCruiser (1970) and Isuzu MU-X (1876).

The Toyota Camry in eighth (1873 sales) made it two passenger cars in the Top 10, with the Mitsubishi Outlander tenth – after placing fifth in March – with 1848 sales.

Australia’s Top 10 Car Brands – April 2024

Toyota was the most popular brand with 20,771 sales and 21 per cent market share – a staggering 72 percent improvement over April 2023, with a 45 percent jump year-to-date.

The Japanese car maker’s sales were more than double next-best Ford’s 8646 – also a significant 30 percent gain year-to-date – and comfortably beating third-place Mazda’s 7301 result.

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While a 5 percent improvement over April 2023, Mazda was one of four top 10 brands whose sales have fallen – the others being Hyundai, Nissan and Tesla – with a decline of 4 percent year to date over 2023.

That result comes against a 14 percent gain year to date for the total new vehicle market.

Kia fended off Mitsubishi for fourth, the South Korean car maker’s 6653 (+7 percent) for the month against the Japanese brand’s 5314 (+20 percent).

Hyundai posted 5185 sales (-10 percent) for sixth, ahead of Isuzu Ute on 4256 (+47 percent), MG’s 3781 (+9 percent), Nissan on 2905 (-4 percent) and Tesla at 2077 (-44 percent).

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Tesla’s decline for the month reduces its year-to-date growth to six percent, but like Mazda and Nissan its result is underperforming the overall market’s 14 percent growth.

Sales increased in every state and territory across the country, led by New South Wales’s 29,263 – an increase of 17 percent over April 2023 – with Victoria posting an even larger gain of 19 percent on its way to 26,492 sales.

Queensland was the third-largest new vehicle buyer, with 20,872 sales and 14.8 percent annual growth, ahead of Western Australia’s 9806 sales (+18.1 percent).

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The state with the biggest increase was South Australia – jumping 34 percent to 6789 – to be fourth behind Queensland, with Tasmania next on 1677 sales for a 32 percent increase.

The Australian Capital Territory followed with 1444 sales (up 15 percent) while 859 new vehicle sales were posted in the Northern Territory (up 13 percent).