According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Australia recorded 94,993 new vehicle sales during February 2025, a drop of 9.6% on the same month last year, as consumer demand remains subdued amid cost-of-living pressures.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says strong consumer preference for SUVs (60.4%) and light commercial vehicles (22.5%) continued while sales in the passenger vehicle (13.5%) segment declined.
However, the industry was increasingly concerned at the rate of total battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales which recorded 5.9% of total sales, compared with 9.6% in February 2024.
“We are now two months into the Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, and while the supply of battery electric vehicles has risen dramatically, consumer demand has fallen by 37% this year compared with the first two months of 2024,” Weber says.
“We knew the supply of EVs would increase and there are now 88 models supplied to the Australian market. However, our grave concern has always been the rate of EV adoption and what assumptions the Government had made in its modelling around consumer demand for EVs in the NVES. This modelling remains secret.
“The easy part is to set aspirational targets but without consumers demanding EVs, the NVES will not succeed. It is time for the Government to consider the realities faced by consumers,” Weber says.
Toyota was the market leader with sales of 18,832 during February, followed by Mazda (8,797), Kia (6,707), Ford (6,337) and Mitsubishi (6,119).
The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s top-selling vehicle with sales of 4405 units followed by the Ford Ranger (4040), Toyota Hilux (3616), Toyota Prado (2723) and the Mitsubishi Outlander (2385).
For February 2025, sales in the Australian Capital Territory were down 16.2% on February 2024 to 1460 units; New South Wales was down 6.7% to 29,801; Northern Territory decreased by 0.9% to 863; Queensland fell 10.1% to 20,202; South Australia also decreased by 3.7% to 6215; Tasmania had a decrease of 18.6% to 1479; Victoria was down 13% to 24,733 and Western Australia decreased by 9.5% to 10,240.
Key points:
• The February 2025 market of 94,993 units shows a decrease in new vehicle sales of 10,030 (-9.6%) compared to February 2024 (105.023). There were 24 selling days in February 2025 and 25 in February 2024 resulting in a decrease of 242.9 vehicle sales per day in February 2025.
• The passenger vehicle market is down by 6823 vehicle sales (-34.8%) over the same month last year; the sports utility market is down by 352 vehicle sales (-0.6%); the light commercial market is down by 2432 vehicle sales (-10.2%) and the heavy commercial vehicle market is down by 423 vehicle sales (-10.9%) versus February 2024.
• Toyota was the market leader in February, followed by Mazda and Ford. Toyota led Mazda with a margin of 10,035 vehicle sales and 10.5 market share points.
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