While the perennial favourites such as Toyota’s RAV4 and Ford’s Ranger dominated October’s new vehicles, the all-electric MG4 was a strong performer.

Motor Industry Association (MIA) figures showed 12,944 units were registered last month.

MIA Chief Executive Aimee Wiley says that new vehicle registrations are beginning to show signs of improvement but remain soft compared to prior years. 

“The October result of 12,944 units is the strongest month since the 1 July Clean Car Discount rate changes,” said Wiley.

“However, October registrations remain 12.2% lower than October 2022 (14,736 units) and 7.7% lower than October 2021 (14,019 units).

“On a year-to-date basis, 2023 is 9.1% lower than 2022 (12,535 units) and 8.8% lower than 2021 (12,062 units).”

The top three market leaders in October 2023 are: Toyota with 27.4% market share (3,543 units), followed by Ford with 10.8% (1,394 units) and Kia with 8.7% (1,125 units). 

The top-selling passenger vehicles were the RAV4 (1103), Mitsubishi Outlander (529), Toyota Corolla Cross (368), the Toyota Yaris Cross had 359 registrations, and two behind was the MG4.

The overall top 3 segments in October were SUV Medium (29.5%), followed by SUV Compact (20.1%) and 4x4 Pick Up/Chassis Cab (11.8%). 

In the commercial segment, the three models for the month of October were the Ranger (795 units), followed by Toyota Hilux (679 units), and the Toyota Hiace (160 units).