Top 100 most popular cars in Australia in 2023: every best selling vehicle

The final results are in for 2023, and below, we’ve listed the top 100 most popular cars in Australia last year. The headline result: as some predicted, the Ford Ranger ute beat the Toyota Hilux for the best-selling crown in 2023 by a solid margin of 2245 deliveries.

Keep in mind these numbers show us how many cars were delivered to customers in 2023. They aren’t orders or registrations, but deliveries. And, more than anything, they show that Australians took delivery of a lot of utes in 2023.

In fact, utes accounted for a massive 19.7 percent of new vehicles delivered in Australia in 2023 – although midsize SUVs remain the type of car preferred by Aussie buyers overall, raking in 22.1% of all sales.

Without further ado, here are the top 100 top-selling cars in Australia by deliveries in 2023.

Want to know what new cars are coming out in 2024? Check out our detailed New Car Calendar.

Number one most popular car: Ford Ranger (63,356 deliveries)

The hottest contest of the car market in 2023 was between the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux. The Hilux has been the number-one seller for years but both strong supply of and demand for Ford’s new T6.2 Ranger line-up was good enough to best Toyota.

Chasing Cars recently crowned the Ford Ranger Raptor Off-Roader of the Year 2023, though the 3.0-litre turbo petrol V6 Raptor model is just the head of a massive range encompassing permutations of single and double cab, RWD and 4WD, and various four- and six-cylinder engines.

Second most popular car: Toyota Hilux (61,111 deliveries)

While Ford managed to deliver 2245 more Rangers than Toyota waved goodbye to Hiluxes in 2023, the Toyota arrived in a close second place – still way ahead of the third-placed vehicle, the Isuzu D-Max ute.

In many ways, it’s still a deeply impressive result given the current, eighth-generation Toyota Hilux is turning nine years old in 2024. It’s a workhorse in the ute range, built around huge sales of both low-spec and high-tier trim grades including the top-shelf Hilux GR Sport.

Third most popular car: Isuzu D-Max (31,202 deliveries)

Third place is a very solid result for the Isuzu D-Max – though it’s incredible that the bronze medal went to a vehicle that had around half the deliveries of the silver-placed Hilux. For Isuzu, the well-liked D-Max traded on a recent modernisation plus the durability value of its 1.9- and 3.0-litre diesel four-cylinder engines.

2024 will bring a range of further tweaks and upgrades to the D-Max, including interior infotainment improvements, so we’ll be watching the Isuzu’s next sales year campaign closely.

Fourth most popular car: Toyota RAV4 (29,627 deliveries)

We have to scroll all the way to fourth place to find a vehicle that isn’t a ute – what a sign of the times. The Toyota RAV4 remained Australia’s favourite SUV despite a precipitous drop in sales of 15 percent when compared to 2022 as supply of Toyota’s popular hybrid vehicles remained very tight in 2023.

It’s also hard to believe the current RAV4 is coming up on six years old in 2024, indicating its replacement won’t be far off – even though markups occasionally remain, and tens of thousands of current orders remain in the system, awaiting fulfilment by Toyota.

Fifth most popular car: MG ZS (29,258 deliveries)

The Chinese-built MG ZS small SUV was nipping right on the heels of the larger Toyota RAV4 and placed fifth in the deliveries charts in 2023. MG has built out a varied ZS range from very affordable (and very basic) entry-level models through to an EV model offering reasonable range and packaging.

That said, the MG ZS is way off the pace of general refinement when compared to MG’s own MG4 model (87th place, 3134 deliveries in 2023), and we’d love to see the ZS updated to reflect what we now know this brand can actually achieve when it comes to quality and dynamics.

Sixth most popular car: Tesla Model Y (28,769 deliveries)

Australia’s most popular electric vehicle (EV) in 2023 was – easily! – the Tesla Model Y midsize SUV, which, like the MG ZS, almost overwhelmed the Toyota RAV4. Staggeringly successful in converting vast numbers of Aussie families to fully-electric motoring, the Model Y is available in a range of specifications locally.

And Tesla isn’t stopping yet. A similarly extensive upgrade to that recently seen on the Model 3 sedan (14th place, 17346 deliveries) will be applied to the Model Y next year, promising more attractive styling, comfier ride quality and improved quality inside.

Seventh most popular car: Mitsubishi Outlander (24,263 deliveries)

It was a bumper year for the well-sized Mitsubishi Outlander midsize SUV lineup, which includes petrol engines and a useful plug-in hybrid offering about 70km of real world range. Chasing Cars ran a current-gen Outlander PHEV as a long-term test vehicle in 2023 and were reasonably impressed with it.

The Outlander is one of the few vehicles in its class to offer three rows of seating, and that feature is standard on many of the grades offered in Australia – all while being one of the most affordable SUVs in its class. 

Eighth most popular car: Mazda CX-5 (23,083 deliveries)

Even though it will celebrate its seventh birthday in 2024, the second-gen Mazda CX-5 continues to be one of the country’s most successful midsize SUV models. Even though sales were down 15 percent in 2023, the CX-5 romped home in eighth place off the back of an attractive recent facelift.

But there are murky waters ahead for the CX-5. With the ageing process becoming clearer and Mazda very busy with the complex launch of a range of luxury SUVs led by the CX-60 (90th place, 2779 deliveries), it will be interesting to watch and see if Mazda continues to pay attention to the buyers of its most popular model. Perhaps a shift to the CX-50 model is in on the cards, finally.

Ninth most popular car: Hyundai Tucson (21,224 deliveries)

Early supply problems appear to be easing for the Hyundai Tucson, which finally hit its stride in 2023 with more than 21K deliveries earning it a very respectable ninth place, comfortably ahead of its cousin – the Kia Sportage (18th place, 15,747 deliveries).

Plus, while the Tucson line-up in Australia is very broad, Hyundai is set to expand desirability further in 2024 by adding a hybrid powertrain accompanied by a subtle exterior facelift and more expansive interior upgrade this year.

Tenth most popular car: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (20,710 deliveries)

Even as Toyota prepares to launch the retro-cool next-gen Prado in Australia later in 2024, the fourth-gen J150 Prado has continued to soldier on very successfully in this market, with its 20,710 deliveries seeing it park in tenth place in the sales charts.

The Prado is reliable, easy to live with and not too outrageously priced, seeing it land well ahead of the 300 Series and 70 Series wagons (21st place, 15,035 deliveries) in terms of overall success. And we know Toyota dealers are already taking deposits on the next-gen J250 model which looks ace.

Top 100 best-selling cars in Australia in 2023

#	Model	Segment	2023 deliveries	Change vs 2022
1	Ford Ranger	Ute	63,356	Up 33%
2	Toyota Hilux	Ute	61,111	Down 5%
3	Isuzu D-Max	Ute	31,202	Up 28%
4	Toyota RAV4	Midsize SUV	29,627	Down 15%
5	MG ZS	Small SUV	29,258	Up 30%
6	Tesla Model Y	Midsize SUV	28,769	Up 230%
7	Mitsubishi Outlander	Midsize SUV	24,263	Up 24%
8	Mazda CX-5	Midsize SUV	23,083	Down 15%
9	Hyundai Tucson	Midsize SUV	21,224	Up 19%
10	Toyota Prado	Large SUV	20,710	Down 2%
11	Hyundai i30	Small car	20,626	Down 3%
12	Toyota Corolla	Small car	19,986	Down 21%
13	Mazda BT-50	Ute	17,526	Up 35%
14	Tesla Model 3	Large car	17,347	Up 59%
15	Mitsubishi Triton	Ute	16,641	Down 39%
16	Subaru Forester	Midsize SUV	16,381	Up 54%
17	Mazda CX-3	Small SUV	15,776	Up 32%
18	Kia Sportage	Midsize SUV	15,747	Down 16%
19	MG MG3	Small car	15,430	Down 5%
20	Ford Everest	Large SUV	15,071	Up 46%
21	Toyota Land Cruiser	Large SUV	15,035	Up 14%
22	Isuzu MU-X	Large SUV	14,139	Up 29%
23	Mazda CX-30	Small SUV	13,115	Down 6%
24	Subaru Outback	Large car	12,903	Up 32%
25	Nissan X-Trail	Midsize SUV	12,861	Up 62%
26	Toyota 70 Series ute	Ute	11,414	Up 0.1%
27	Kia Carnival	Van	11,312	Up 40%
28	Haval Jolion	Small SUV	11,252	Up 37%
29	Hyundai Kona	Small SUV	11,183	Down 3%
30	BYD Atto 3	Small SUV	11,042	Up 423%
31	Toyota Camry	Large car	10,581	Up 11%
32	Kia Seltos	Small SUV	10,473	Up 23%
33	GWM Cannon Ute	Ute	9616	Up 23%
34	Mitsubishi ASX	Small SUV	9176	Down 28%
35	LDV T60	Ute	9106	Up 53%
36	Mazda 3	Small car	9079	Down 6%
37	Subaru Crosstrek	Small SUV	8991	New
38	Haval H6	Midsize SUV	8971	Up 28%
39	Volkswagen T-Roc	Small SUV	8943	Up 147%
40	Nissan Navara	Ute	8499	Down 19%
41	Kia Sorento	Large SUV	8366	Up 6%
42	MG HS	Midsize SUV	8126	Down 26%
43	Toyota Corolla Cross	Small SUV	7932	Up 209%
44	Nissan Patrol	Large SUV	7812	Up 36%
45	Honda CR-V	Midsize SUV	7808	Down 4%
46	Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross	Small SUV	7786	Up 30%
47	Kia Picanto	Small car	7706	Up 48%
48	Volkswagen Tiguan	Midsize SUV	7298	Up 175%
49	Toyota Hiace	Van	7133	Down 18%
50	Kia Stonic	Small SUV	6983	Down 18%
51	Suzuki Swift	Small car	6914	Up 57%
52	Lexus NX	Midsize SUV	6875	Up 104%
53	Volkswagen Amarok	Ute	6626	Up 47%
54	Nissan Qashqai	Small SUV	6614	Up 1120%
55	Toyota Yaris Cross	Small SUV	6514	Down 23%
56	Hyundai Venue	Small SUV	6152	Down 4%
57	Hyundai Santa Fe	Large SUV	6033	Up 31%
58	RAM 1500	Ute	5922	Up 8%
59	Volvo XC40	Small SUV	5837	Up 14%
60	Kia Cerato	Small car	5795	Down 53%
61	Volkswagen T-Cross	Small SUV	5762	Up 12%
62	Mitsubishi Pajero Sport	Large SUV	5547	Down 37%
63	Mazda CX-8	Large SUV	5409	Down 9%
64	Chery Omoda 5	Small SUV	5370	New
65	Mazda 2	Small car	5181	Up 1%
66	Suzuki Jimny	Small SUV	5002	Down 12%
67	Toyota C-HR	Small SUV	4786	Down 40%
68	Mazda CX-9	Large SUV	4696	Down 27%
69	BMW X1	Small SUV	4644	Up 92%
70	Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace	Midsize SUV	4543	Up 17%
71	Audi Q3	Small SUV	4457	Down 12%
72	Audi Q5	Midsize SUV	4210	Up 31%
73	Haval H6 GT	Midsize SUV	4100	Up 106%
74	Kia Rio	Small car	4067	Down 11%
75	BMW X3	Midsize SUV	4002	Down 12%
76	Land Rover Defender	Large SUV	3846	Up 137%
77	Hyundai Palisade	Large SUV	3770	Down 6%
78	BMW X5	Large SUV	3682	Up 18%
79	LDV G10	Van	3638	Up 15%
80	Mercedes-Benz GLC	Midsize SUV	3631	Down 16%
81	Toyota Fortuner	Large SUV	3619	Down 22%
82	Volkswagen Golf	Small car	3592	Up 11%
83	Ssangyong Musso	Ute	3491	Up 78%
84	LDV D90	Van	3341	Up 5%
85	Audi A3	Small car	3319	Up 57%
86	BMW 3 Series	Large car	3147	Up 12%
87	MG MG4	Small car	3134	New
88	Porsche Macan	Sports SUV	2925	Up 7%
89	Ford Transit Custom	Van	2843	Up 66%
90	Mazda CX-60	Midsize SUV	2779	New
91	Renault Koleos	Midsize SUV	2776	Up 9%
92	Lexus RX	Large SUV	2743	Up 103%
93	Subaru WRX	Sports car	2743	Up 15%
94	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	Large car	2625	Down 26%
95	Volvo XC60	Midsize SUV	2542	Down 27%
96	Mercedes-Benz GLE	Large SUV	2535	Down 18%
97	Hyundai Staria Load	Van	2497	Down 24%
98	Lexus UX	Small SUV	2468	Up 111%
99	Polestar 2	Large car	2463	Up 62%
100	MG MG5	Large car	2398	New