The record for new car sales in May was broken last month, with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reporting that 111,099 vehicles were registered as sold in its latest VFACTS data.

Only last year, a new May record was established with a 105,694 total, but amid continued demand from the Australian public (despite rising cost of living pressures), May 2024’s result bettered that haul by 5.1%.

The result backs up the four successive months of record sales we’ve seen to start the year, with April (97,202), March (109,647), February (105,023) and January (89,782) all surpassing their respective month’s previous benchmark.

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are continuing to grow in popularity as they become more accessible for Australian car buyers, with 15.8% of all sales falling under this category on top of the 8.1% made up by pure battery electric vehicles.

In terms of vehicle segment numbers, passenger cars saw the biggest increase compared to the same period last year, with 21,252 registrations coming in at a 17.3% rise on 2023’s result.

Light commercial vehicles (+6.3%), SUVs (+1.2%) and heavy commercial vehicles (+1.1%) all saw more marginal increases.

South Australia was the state or territory that saw the biggest increase in sales compared to May 2023 with an 11.3% bump, while the ACT’s sales also rose by 10.6%.

All other states saw a modest increase in sales, but the Northern Territory’s 999 registrations were 8.8% lower than last year’s numbers.

Market sales: May 2024

Vehicle sales by state or territory: May 2024

Vehicle brands: May

More than one in five vehicles sold across Australia last month were Toyota-branded, with the Japanese giant recording 23,389 registrations to leave the rest of the competition in its wake.

This result was 27.5% more than what it managed across the same period last year, strengthening its tight grip as the dominant force in the Australian automotive market.

Ford held its place as the best of the rest with 8,806 new car sales, leaving them 40.9% better off than they were in May 2023 and ahead of a slightly faltering Mazda which could only muster 8,002 (-5.6%).

Rounding out the top five were sister brands Kia (7,504, +7.2%) and Hyundai (6,495, -8.2%), with the latter doing just enough to edge out Mitsubishi (6,409, +39.8%) which occupied fifth spot in April.

The top six established a big gap on the rest of the top brands, with Isuzu Ute’s seventh-place finish coming in at a tick over 2,000 fewer registrations than Mitsubishi (4,401, +26.1%).

MG (4,159) wasn’t far behind but saw a drop of 13.9% in its sales. Tesla’s drop-off was even larger, with the 3,567 units enough to earn it a place in the top ten but at 20.3% lower than the same period last year, while GWM sat between them (3,820, +17.9%).

In terms of year-to-date (YTD) sales, Toyota’s massive total and strong start to the year has seen it pass 100,000 total sales just five months into 2024, placing it 40.8% further ahead of where it was at the same stage last year.

Ford (40,129, +31.9%) has opened up a larger gap on Mazda (39,064, -4.1%), with the two experiencing contrasting fortunes as we approach the halfway point of the year.

The makeup of the list remained the same from March, including Kia (33,075, +4.6%) and Mitsubishi (31,911, +24.4%) retaining their spots in the top five, with the only change being Isuzu Ute (21,458, +28.1%) leapfrogging Nissan (20,623, +42.0%) into seventh overall.

Best-selling vehicle brands: May 2024

Best-selling vehicle brands: 2024

Vehicle models: May

After the Toyota RAV4 briefly claimed the title of best-selling car model in Australia in April, relative normalcy resumed in May with the Ford Ranger (5,912, +43.8%) and Toyota HiLux (5,702, -1.2%) returning to the top of the list in May.

However, while the Ranger’s 5,912 sits at a 43.8% improvement on May 2023, the HiLux’s 5,702 represents a marginal decrease of 1.2%, showing just how far the American manufacturer has come in the Australian ute wars.

The RAV4 isn’t to be forgotten, though, with its 5,517 units marked as sold (at an increase of 110.1%) keeping it in the upper echelon of popular models and well ahead of the rest of the pack.

Leading this pack is the Isuzu Ute D-Max on 2,612 new vehicle registrations (+10.2%), which ran a tight race with the Mitsubishi Outlander (2,500, +33.0%), Toyota Camry (2,468, +185.6%) and Toyota Corolla (2,439, +76.0%).

The Ford Everest was another major improver for the month, with its 2,110 sales a huge improvement of 159.9% to edge out the Mazda CX-5 (2,108, +14.2%) by just two units and the Tesla Model 3 (1,958, +50.8%) by just over 150.

Notably, there was no room for the MG ZS in the top ten, marking the second time in three months that the Chinese manufacturer’s flagship model has been unable to crack the best-sellers’ list.

Meanwhile, in YTD sales, the Ranger (27,242) has held its comfortable lead over the HiLux (22,885) and RAV4 (21,498) atop the charts to establish itself as a firm favourite to go back-to-back after claiming last year’s crown.

Like the YTD brand sales, there were no new entrants into the top ten last month, with the only change being the ZS’ move up to seventh ahead of Tesla’s Model Y, which also failed to reach the top ten for the month.

Best-selling vehicle models: May 2024

Best-selling vehicle models: 2024