Australia saw record January sales of 89,782 new vehicles, 5.8% more than January 2023 and breaking the previous record for the month of 88,551 set in 2018.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said there were concerns for the 2024 outlook given current economic conditions.

SUVs accounted for 55.5% of sales while light commercials took 22.9% and passenger vehicles 18.3% of sales.

Low emission vehicles remained popular, with hybrids, plug in hybrid and battery electric vehicles making up 17.4% of sales while battery electric vehicles represented 5.4%.

“The continuing preference for SUVs and utes demonstrates the challenges the commonwealth government is facing as it works to introduce a New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES),” Weber said.

“Industry wants an emissions standard that is ambitious without limiting the choice and increasing the cost of the vehicles Australians need and want.

“Even with the current incentives offered by the commonwealth and state and territory governments, sales of battery electric vehicles appear to have plateaued during recent months.

“Good policy must reflect reality rather than a desktop exercise that makes assumptions about what the world can look like, and we strongly urge the government to share its modelling with us.”

Toyota was the market leader with recorded sales of 17,903, followed by Mazda (8,165), Ford (6,624), Hyundai (6,162) and Mitsubishi (5,911).

The Ford Ranger was top selling vehicle with sales of 4,747, followed by the Toyota HiLux (4,092), Toyota Landcruiser (2,541), Isuzu Ute D-Max (2,541) and Toyota RAV4 (2,211).