VFACTS: Luxury car sales a mixed bag in Q1 2023

Luxury car sales in the first quarter of 2023 largely bucked a wider market improvement, as ongoing supply issues persist.

There were a total of 269,002 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2023, which is 2.5 per cent better than until the end of March last year. Luxury brands accounted for 22,932 of those sales, down 3.0 per cent overall.

Despite this incremental sales decline, some luxury brands managed to improve their sales.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo’s year-to-date sales were down 38.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, having sold 100 cars.

Sales of the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV were down compared to the same period last year. Alfa Romeo sold 41 Giulia sedans, down 46.1 per cent, and 40 Stelvio crossovers, down 53.5 per cent.

There are updated versions of both the Giulia and Stelvio on the horizon, confirmed to be arriving in Australian dealerships in the first half of 2023.

The Italian brand did recieve its first allotment of Tonale small SUVs in March, with 19 examples delivered. It’s expected sales of the Tonale will ramp up over the coming months, which will help boost sales given the popularity of small luxury SUVs.

Audi

Audi had a bumper first quarter in 2023 compared to last year thanks in part to the launch of the new A3.

There have been a total of 749 A3 examples sold year-to-date, which is up a whopping 263.3 per cent from the same point in 2022.

Sales have also been strong for the A4, A5 Sportback, e-tron, Q2, Q3, Q5, Q7, Q8, and TT compared to last year.

The latter of these models is due for the chopping block soon as the company announced it’s wrapped up production after 25 years of sales in some markets.

The Q5 was Audi’s best seller in the first quarter of 2023 with 1324 sales, up 45.8 per cent on the same period last year. It was followed closely by the Q3 with 1242 sales, up 74.2 per cent.

The Q7 also got off to a strong start this year with 525 sales, up 108.3 per cent.

BMW

Unlike Audi, BMW sales are sitting at roughly the same level as they were at the same point last year. It has sold 5385 vehicles year-to-date, which is technically up by 0.3 per cent from 2022.

The biggest sellers for the German brand over the first three months of 2023 are the X3 (1056 sales, up 0.6 per cent) and X5 (991 sales, up 35.9 per cent).

The BMW X5 was the top-selling large luxury SUV over the first quarter of 2023, and the X3 was the third top-selling medium luxury SUV. It was outsold by the Tesla Model Y (3169 sales) and Audi Q5 (1324 sales).

The 3 Series range was also the third top-selling vehicle in its segment in the first three months of this year, though there were 13 times more Tesla Model 3 sedans sold over the same period.

Genesis

Genesis has come a long way over the last few years. In the first three months of 2023 it sold 285 vehicles, which is 32.6 per cent up on the same period last year – and more than Alfa Romeo and Jaguar combined.

Although the GV70 medium SUV is the brand’s top-selling vehicle, it’s far from the top of the sales charts with 138 examples sold in the first quarter of 2023, up 3.8 per cent.

The brand has a wide range of all-electric models on sale in Australia now, comprising the GV60, Electrified GV70, and Electrified G80.

The GV60 was the brand’s second-best seller in the first quarter of 2023 with 61 sales, ahead of the GV80 (54 sales, down 1.8 per cent), G70 (25 sales, up 78.6 per cent) and G80 (7 sales, down 46.2 per cent).

Jaguar

With 110 sales to date in 2023, Jaguar is down 38.2 per cent compared to the same point in 2022.

The brand’s top-selling car in Australia was the F-Pace SUV, with 48 sales to date in 2023, though this represents a decline of 7.7 per cent on the same period in 2022.

Other Jaguar vehicles that were down on sales compared to last year include the E-Pace SUV (10 sales to date, down 89.6 per cent), and XF sedan (1 sale to date, down 80 per cent).

Interestingly, Jaguar reported 11 sales of the I-Pace electric crossover in the first three months of 2023, which represents a 120 per cent increase from the same period last year. That made it the only Jaguar to improve its sales compared with the first quarter of 2022, and it comes ahead of an updated model due in July.

Land Rover

Land Rover hasn’t fared as badly as Jaguar, though its sales are still down to date in 2023.

The SUV specialist sold 989 cars to date this year, down 17.8 per cent on the 1203 it had managed to the end of March 2022.

The supply-constrained Defender has found 423 homes (up 11 per cent) and is the brand’s top-selling vehicle. This is ahead of the new Range Rover Sport with 319 sales over the same period. The latter was down by 13.6 per cent, though it’s been transitioning to a new model.

One model that saw a sharp rise is the flagship Range Rover, which launched in new-generation guise locally last year. 83 examples were sold in the first three months of 2023, which represents a 591.7 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Lexus

Lexus is one of the brands that bucked the declining luxury car sales trend in the first three months of 2023.

As a brand it was up 12.6 per cent compared to the same period last year to 2351 sales, thanks in part to a 50.8 per cent increase in ES sedan sales. A total of 445 examples of the ES were sold, making it the brand’s second best-selling vehicle.

The Japanese brand’s top-selling car is currently the NX with 1044 examples sold to date. It’s technically down on sales compared to last year though by 0.9 per cent.

The brand has temporarily closed orders for the top-spec NX450h+ plug-in hybrid (PHEV) amid expected delivery dates stretching into 2025.

Maserati

Maserati is the brand with the worst sales decline to date in 2023 when compared with the same period last year. It has sold 73 cars to date this year compared to 147 in the first quarter of last year.

The brand’s two top-selling vehicles are the Levante and Grecale SUVs, each with 31 sales. The former was down 72.6 per cent, while the latter only just joined the local range.

One Maserati vehicle that has suffered a significant sales decline is the Ghibli sedan, with only four examples sold to date in 2023 compared to the 31 sold over the same period last year. This equates to a decline of 87.1 per cent.

Maserati sales are expected to increase as more Grecales reach our shores and once the new-generation GranTurismo coupe arrives locally in the second half of 2023.

Mercedes-Benz

Australia’s largest luxury brand has maintained its lead in the sales race, despite strong competition from its German rivals.

Sales are down 4.9 per cent to date in 2023 for the three-pointed star, which has welcomed or is soon to welcome a number of new models into its sprawling range.

The new C-Class sedan has found 1011 homes, up 144.2 per cent, though it’s still away off the segment-leading Tesla Model 3 and BMW 3 Series in terms of sales.

Sales of the critical GLC mid-sized SUV are down 41.8 per cent to 589 this year so far as the brand gears up to launch the new-generation model in the first half of 2023. The related GLC coupe was also down 36.6 per cent to 267 sales.

If you combine sales of the wagon and ‘coupe’, the GLE was the brand’s second-best seller. Mercedes-Benz sold 207 GLE Coupes, up 135.2 per cent, and 796 examples of the wagon, up 51.6 per cent.

Porsche

Although Porsche as a brand suffered a 9.8 per cent sales decline over the first three months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, a number of its vehicles increased in sales.

The most notable increases were recorded by the 718 Cayman sports car (66 sales, up 187 per cent), Cayenne coupe (228 sales, up 18.1 per cent), and the Cayenne wagon (229 sales, up 8 per cent)

The German brand’s current top-selling vehicle, the Macan, experienced a sales decline of 18.2 per cent when compared to the first three months of 2023. 675 examples have been sold to date this year, compared to 825 at the same point last year.

The rest of the range was also down. This includes the 911 (84 sales, down 28.2 per cent), 718 Boxster (22 sales, down 24.1 per cent), Panamera (14 sales, down 17.6 per cent), and the Taycan (103 sales, down 35.6 per cent).

Volvo Car

Volvo Car as a brand experienced a 4.3 per cent sales increase over the first three months of 2023, when compared to the same period last year. It has sold 2737 vehicles to date this year, compared to the 2623 it sold at the same point in 2022.

The two vehicles that had sales increases includes the XC90 (332 sales, up 52.3 per cent), and the XC40 (1505 sales, up 18.7 per cent). The latter of these vehicles is the brand’s top-selling vehicle, as well as the top-selling small luxury SUV.

Despite the brand’s other SUV models receiving an increase in sales, the XC60 medium SUV was down 41.3 per cent year-to-date to 601 sales.

Sales have also fallen for the V60 Cross Country wagon (39 sales, down 55.6 per cent), and S60 sedan (39 sales, down 33.9 per cent).

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