Fuel-hungry utes and SUVs dominate Australian sales, with Corolla the only small car in top 10 list
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Ford’s Ranger ute was again Australia’s most popular vehicle and majority of new vehicles sold in 2024 – about 57% – were SUVs. Australia’s enthusiasm for fuel-guzzling SUVs and utes is continuing to flourish – with large cars dominating the list of the top 10 most purchased cars of 2024 – but one small car has experienced a resurgence in popularity.
Toyota’s Corolla was the only passenger car on the list – the eighth-most popular car with 24,027 models sold – according to new data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). Ford’s Ranger ute retained the top spot that it seized the year prior from its main ute competitor, the Toyota HiLux, with 62,593 models sold.
The HiLux dropped to third, selling 53,499 units. It was usurped by Toyota’s RAV4 SUV, which was the second-most popular new vehicle with 58,718 sold. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. Overall, there were 1,220,607 new vehicles sold in Australia in 2024 – smashing the annual record set in 2023 by 0.3%, or about 4,000 extra vehicles, according to FCAI.
Not only are Australians buying more cars than ever, but appetites are continuing to shift from smaller to larger vehicles. Most of the new vehicles sold in 2024 were SUVs, with 695,566 – or about 57% – of all purchases, as sales of this category increased by 2.4% on the previous year.
