VFACTS: First half of 2022 down 5.2pc YoY

THE Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reports that Australian new-vehicle sales decreased by 9.7 per cent compared with June last year and that by the half-way mark of 2022, the market had contracted by 5.2 per cent year-on-year. 

Although June yielded the second highest new-vehicle sales total of the year (99,974 units, after March’s tally of 101,233) and was 5591 units higher than in May, it marked the third successive month of lower monthly totals compared with the corresponding months in 2021.

In fact, so far in 2022, only March’s total has eclipsed that of its 2021 counterpart.  

Last month’s new-vehicle market decreased by 10,690 sales (-9.7 per cent) compared with the corresponding period in 2021 (110,664) and brought the year-to-date total up to 537,858, compared with the first 6 months of last year, when 567,468 units were sold (-5.2 per cent).

There were 25.2 selling days in June 2021 and 2022, which, given the lower sales total of the latter, works out to a decrease of 424.2 vehicle sales per day, the FCAI said.

Australia’s passenger vehicle market was down by 4911 units (-21.0 per cent), the sports utility market slipped back by 1254 units (-2.3 per cent) and the light commercial market fell by 4698 units (-16.5 per cent) compared with June 2021. 

However, the heavy commercial vehicle market was up by 173 units (3.5 per cent).

Commenting on June’s figures, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hamper automotive manufacturing.

This, combined with the war in Ukraine and shipping issues, meant that the supply of new vehicles being delivered to Australia’s shores could not keep up with customer demand.

“Globally, car-makers are continuing to suffer from plant shutdowns. In Europe, we

have component supply heavily impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. Microprocessors

continue to be in short supply and global shipping remains unpredictable,” said Mr Weber.

“While demand for new cars remains strong in Australia, it is unlikely we will see

supply chain issues resolve in the near future.”

Sales across every state and territory were down, apart from the Northern Territory

where 1115 units were sold – an increase of 16.3 per cent on June 2021. 

Tasmania suffered most, where sales fell by 1572 units (-17.2 per cent), followed by Queensland – by 21,983 units (-13.2 per cent), Victoria – by 25,764 units (-12.2 per cent); the Australian Capital Territory – by 1486 units (-11.6 per cent), South Australia – by 6214 units (-8.6 per cent), New South Wales – by 32,027 units (-7.5 per cent) and finally, Western Australia – by 9813 units (-2.2 per cent).

Toyota led the new-vehicle market in June with a total of 22,561 new vehicles sold, which was 14,081 units more than second-placed Kia (8480), with Hyundai (8259) in third, followed by Mazda (6245) and Mitsubishi (5846). FCAI reports those top five brands had market-share percentages of 22.6 per cent, 8.5 per cent, 8.3 per cent, 6.2 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively.

For the year-to-date, Toyota leads with 121,377 units (a 22.6 per cent share of the market), followed by Mazda with 49,932 (9.3 per cent), Mitsubishi with 41,748 (7.8 per cent), Kia with 39,419 (7.3 per cent) and Hyundai with 38,167 (7.1 per cent)    

Unsurprisingly, the Toyota HiLux was comfortably the highest selling new-vehicle model in June 2022, with 7582 deliveries. Hyundai’s Tucson was next with 2840 units, followed by Ford’s Ranger (2802), then Toyota’s Landcruiser (2783) and Corolla (2605).

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (June 2022):

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (June 2022):

State by state (June 2022):