Australia's best-selling rental car in 2024 wasn't a ute or SUV
01/15/2025 03:00 PM
High-riding vehicles dominate the overall new-car sales charts in Australia, but the most popular car delivered to rental fleets last year was a humble hatchback.
More than 68,000 new cars were sold to rental companies in Australia during 2024, from $25,000 MGs to a single $300,000 Range Rover.
But the top seller was a model that finished seventh place on the overall charts last year: the Toyota Corolla.
Data provided by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reveals 5561 Corollas were reported as sold to hire-car firms last year, ahead of the Toyota RAV4 (4739 sales) and Mitsubishi Outlander SUVs (4334 sales).
More than one in three – 36 per cent – of rental cars sold were Toyotas, and the top-selling new vehicle overall last year, the Ford Ranger, was only 14th on the rental-car charts.
MORE: Australian new-car sales in 2024 – annual record barely broken despite drop in demand
In total, sales to rental fleets tallied 68,301 in 2024 – or 5.5 per cent of all new-vehicle deliveries – down from 71,850 the year prior, and an all-time record of 77,195 vehicles in 2018.
The rest of the Top 10 best sellers list is largely made up of vehicles also popular with private and business buyers, including the Toyota HiLux (fifth), Kia Sportage (eighth) and Ford Everest (10th).
But it is when the list is sorted by the share of a model’s total sales that went to rental-car companies that the list becomes even more interesting.
With the exception of all three BMW 6 Series GT sedans being sold attributed to hire-car companies, it is the Skoda Scala hatchback that quotes the highest share of its sales to rental firms, at 48.6 per cent – or 202 of its 416 deliveries last year.
MORE: Best-selling rental cars in Australia revealed, 2023
Only 52 examples were sold to private buyers, placing it in the bottom 21 per cent of the charts when the 107 example sold to businesses – and 55 to governments – are excluded.
It was followed by the BMW 5 Series (41.7 per cent, or 256 out of 614 sales), Peugeot 508 (35.4 per cent, 23 out of 65), VW Polo (33.2 per cent, 716 out of 2154), and Cupra Ateca (26.3 per cent, 69 out of 262).
A surprise sixth-placed finisher is the Nissan Juke, on 25.1 per cent – or 420 of its 1674 total sales.
In 2023, the Scala’s crown was held by the Ateca, when 56.7 per cent – or 186 – of the Cupra SUV’s deliveries went to a rental-car company.
The brand with the highest share of rental sales was Cupra, on 11.5 per cent – or 263 of its 2339 deliveries – ahead of Nissan (10.3 per cent) and Toyota (10.1 per cent).
Among the most expensive cars to be delivered to rental fleets are 86 BMW iX electric SUVs, 26 Range Rover Sports, and one full-size Range Rover.
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