New EV registrations came crashing down in January

Following the abandonment of the Clean Car Discount at the end of last year, it comes as no surprise that local registrations of electric vehicles came crashing down in January 2024.

New data from the Motor Industry Association (MIA) shows that just 3 per cent of new passenger cars that hit the road last month were electric, around 10 per cent less than the same month last year.

It was a completely different story for petrol and diesel-powered vehicles though, which made up 96.2 per cent of new passenger vehicle registrations in January 2024.

Overall, approximately 12,649 new vehicles hit our roads last month, which is ever so slightly higher than January 2023 by 1.3 per cent, but 6.2 per cent lower than January 2022.

What were the top three models for January 2024?

With the ute tax now well and truly gone, the most popular vehicle registered last month was the Ford Ranger with 1470 units, followed by the Toyota Hilux with 657 units. In third place was the RAV4 with 619 new registrations.

Who led the market in January 2024?

Toyota led the way in the light passenger market last month, taking a 20.1 per cent slice of the pie, while Mitsubishi came in second (14.1 per cent) and Kia in third (10.2 per cent).

As for the commercial market, Ford was the most popular brand with a massive 41.2 per cent cut. Toyota and Mitsubishi came in second and third respectively.

A tough start to 2024 for electrified vehicles

Registrations of fully electric vehicles were on the low side in January 2024, with just 244 units hitting the road. The most popular model of them all was the BYD Seal with 31 units registered, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 25 units, and the Toyota bZ4X with 23 units.

Plug-in hybrids didn’t fare so well either, with just 202 new models being registered last month. The Porsche Cayenne was the most popular among them with 24 units registered, followed by the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (18 units) and Volkswagen Touareg (14 units).

As for non-plug-in hybrids, registrations were strong at 2366 units, taking up a 29.1 per cent share of the passenger vehicle market. The top three hybrids were all Toyotas, including the RAV4 (568 units), Highlander (297 units), and Corolla Cross (242 units).

What was the most popular segment in January 2024?

The most popular light passenger vehicle segment was medium-sized SUVs at 2771 units, followed by compact SUVs at 2437 units, and large SUVs at 1311 units.