Cost-of-living pressures have failed to dampen Australia’s enthusiasm for the automobile, with car sales reaching new heights in 2023 despite successive interest rate hikes.

Australians are expected to have smashed the record for the most new vehicles bought in a calendar year when the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries releases full-year sales figures on Thursday.

More than 1.1 million cars were sold in the first 11 months of the year – meaning less than 71,000 sales are needed in the month of December to eclipse the previous annual record set in 2017.

By way of comparison, more than 112,000 vehicles were sold in November.

“This is an extraordinary result in what is now likely to be an extraordinary, record-breaking year,” the chamber’s chief executive Tony Weber said when the November figures were released.

But as consumers expend pent-up demand fuelled by COVID-era supply shortages, the industry is readying itself for a slowdown in 2024.

Economists predict household purchasing power to diminish further as the effects of 13 interest rate rises since May 2022 and lingering high inflation continue to eat into record savings accumulated during the pandemic.

“As cost-of-living pressures hit, we may see a market cooling in the coming months and we anticipate a more challenging 2024,” Weber said.

Electric vehicle sales continued to power ahead in 2023. More than 80,000 EVs were sold in the first 11 months of last year – 52,120 more than sold during the same period in 2022.

Utes and SUVs dominated the market for another year, with the Ford Ranger neck-and-neck with 2022’s top seller the Toyota HiLux in the race for 2023’s most popular model.

The Tesla Model Y is set to become the first electric vehicle to crack the top 10 with more than 27,000 models of the SUV sold so far.

Toyota will lead the overall market for the 21st year running, with more than 200,000 units expected to be sold in 2023.

Mazda, the next closest competitor, sold 93,000 vehicles in the first 11 months of the year.

– AAP