New vehicle sales between January and March 2024 represent the best first quarter ever for new vehicle sales, according to peak industry body the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

A record March result of 109,647 sales surpassed the previous March record of 106,988, with the total of 304,452 sales for the first three months of the year representing an increase of 13.2% on the same period in 2023.

Sales of electrified vehicles in March made up 23.5% of the total market, with battery electric vehicles accounting for 9.5% of sales, up from 6.8% in March 2023.

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales also increased, recording a 14% share compared with 6% in March 2023.

The SUV segment accounted for the largest proportion of sales at 58.9%, with the passenger segment continuing to decline, down to 16.1% compared with 17.7% last year.

The Light Commercial segment also fell to 21% from 22.6%.

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The Ford Ranger was Australia’s top-selling vehicle in March with 5,661 sales.

Its main rival, the Toyota HiLux (3,995), was pushed into fourth by stablemate the Toyota RAV4 (5,070), and the third-placed Tesla Model Y (4,379).

The Mitsubishi Outlander, which like the RAV4 and Tesla includes electrified variants, rounded out the top five with 2,764 sales.

Toyota was once again Australia’s best-selling brand with sales of 18,961, followed by Ford (8,776), Mazda (8,246), Mitsubishi (7,866) and Kia (7,070).

New vehicle sales in Queensland followed the positive trajectory of every other state and territory except Tasmania, with the Sunshine State accounting for 5.9% or 23,500 sales, exceeding sale in Victoria (20,099) and trailing only NSW (33,808).

FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said nine of the past 12 months had seen the industry achieve record sales results.