Automotive Industry Scan

Australians purchase on average more than one over 1 million new vehicles a year in one of the most competitive markets in the world. As of January 2023, Australia had 21,168,462 registered vehicles on the road, a number that has been growing by approximately 400,000 vehicles per year.

There are 68 brands of motor vehicles in Australia (including both light and heavy vehicles) with 380 different models that are sold and serviced by over 3,500 dealers.

The automotive industry is expected to generate $21.66 billion from the provision of repair and maintenance services, $20.99 billion from the sales of parts and accessories and $11.44 billion from locally manufactured vehicles, parts, accessories, and other products.

This year, new vehicle sales achieved the highest August result on record, as Australian customers took delivery of 109,966 new vehicles, a 15.4% increase on the same period in 2022. August’s result continues to build on a strong year for automotive sales, being up 9.9% so far this year.

August’s sales data also highlighted that consumers were continuing to embrace low emissions technologies, with EVs accounting for 6.4% of sales and hybrid vehicles accounting for 10.5% of sales.

The manufacturing of heavy vehicles, including trucks and buses generated $4.55 billion in revenue throughout 2021/22, employing almost 6,000 workers.