New vehicle sales hit 1 million: Top-rated car loans for November to finance your next car purchase

The number of new vehicles sold in Australia has officially surpassed one million for 2023, according to the latest research from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Despite higher-than-expected inflation levels and the current cost of living pressures, Australians are still purchasing new vehicles. New FCAI data shows that sales across each State and Territory increased in October 2023 compared to October 2022, with 106,908 new vehicles delivered to Australian customers. In fact, the last six months have delivered five all-time sales records compared with previous years. 

FCAI chief executive, Tony Weber, said that this achievement is a “testament to the unwavering demand for a wide array of vehicles across various price brackets.”

"The Australian market has demonstrated incredible strength and vitality throughout 2023, culminating in Australia reaching one million sales in October for the first time,” Mr Weber said.

“After some challenging years through COVID, this milestone speaks to the range of vehicles available to consumers, affirming Australia's position as one of the world's most dynamic and competitive markets. It also reflects vastly improved supply chains,” he said.

Highest selling car manufacturers - October 2023

• Toyota - 20,298 vehicles sold
• Mazda - 9,316 vehicles sold
• Ford - 8,605 vehicles sold
• Hyundai - 6,620 vehicles sold
• Mitsubishi - 6,395 vehicles sold

Highest selling car models - October 2023

• Ford Ranger - 6,215 vehicles sold
• Toyota Hi-Lux - 5,766 vehicles sold
• Isuzu Ute D-Max - 3,198 vehicles sold
• Toyota RAV4 - 2,598 vehicles sold
• Toyota LandCruiser - 2,561 vehicles sold

Out of the record-breaking October sales, 38.3% were either light commercial utes, large, or upper large SUVs vehicle categories. Interestingly, EV sales (battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid) softened in October, representing only 5.7% of the market.

Compare top-rated car loans today

If you’re planning on purchasing a vehicle before the year ends, and looking at car financing options, you may want to compare competitive car loan options on the RateCity database.

To help make this process quicker and simpler, RateCity has ranked the top-rated car loans on our Leaderboard page, based on our Real Time Ratings™ system.

Real Time Ratings™ gives each car loan a score out of five stars, based on cost and flexibility. But unlike other ratings systems that rank their products once or twice a year, our Real Time Ratings™ system ranks products as you use the site, for improved accuracy when creating your shortlist

(Rankings are correct at the time of publishing. Please note lenders may trade places on the list as interest rates and fees change and RateCity’s tracker reflects these movements.)

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