Despite having lackluster sales in the last three months of the year, the Australian car market managed to push past the one-million mark in 2021.
The Federal Chamber of Commerce (FCAI) reported a total of 1,049,831 new vehicles sold across Australia in 2021, which represents a 14.5 per cent increase on 2020. This is amid ongoing supply shortages of semi-conductor chips and longer wait times for new car deliveries.
Sales by Region
2021 saw a general increase in sales across the states. NSW reported NSW sold 328,185 units (up 8.6 per cent on 2020 overall), Victoria sold 272,733 units (up 20.4 per cent), Queensland had 229,775 units sold (17.4 per cent), Western Australia reported 106,134 units sold (up 18.7 per cent), Tasmania reported 18,564 units sold (up 18.4 per cent), and South Australia had 68,605 sales (up 14.2 per cent). The ACT added 16,002 units (down 18.7 per cent), and NT reported 9833 units (up 27.2 per cent).
Top Brands
Toyota is once again the most favored brand across new car buyers this year with 223,642 vehicles sold resulting in 21.3 per cent of overall market share.
In second place was Mazda (101,119 vehicles sold, 9.6 per cent market share). In third place was Hyundai (72,872 vehicles sold, 6.9 per cent). In fourth place was Ford (71,380 vehicles sold, 6.8 per cent market share). Fifth place went to Kia (67,964 vehicles sold, 6.5 per cent market share).
Placing 6th to 10th are Mitsubishi (67,730, up 16.1 per cent), Nissan (41,263, up 7.7 per cent), Volkswagen (40,770, up 3.8 per cent), MG (39,025, up 155.9 per cent, becoming the first Chinese brand to make the top 10), and Subaru (37,015, up 17.5 per cent).
Top Models
The top selling model for the year is the Toyota-Hilux with a total of 52,801 units sold (up from 45,176 in 2020). Closely following in second is the Ford Ranger at 50,279 (up from 40,973).
In third place is the Toyota RAV4 (35,751, down from 38,537) followed by the Toyota Corolla in fourth place (28,768, up from 25,882) and Hyundai i30 in fifth place (25,575, up from 20,734)
Placing 6th through 10th are the Isuzu D-Max (25,117, up from 15,062), Mazda CX-5: (24,968 up from 21,979), Toyota Prado (21,299 up from 18,034), the Mitsubishi Triton (19,232, up from 18,136), and the MG ZS (18,423 up from 5494)
Top Category
SUVs lead the pack this year with 531,700 sales (50.6 percent market share). This is followed by light commercial vehicles with 253,254 sales (24.1 percent), passenger cars with 221,556 sales (21.1 percent), and heavy commercials with 43,231 sales (4.1 percent).
Weakest December Since 2008
However, December 2021 saw another slump for the Australian car market for the third month. 78,402 new vehicle sales were sold this month which is a decrease of 17,250 vehicle sales or 18.0% compared to December 2020 (95,652) vehicle sales. It is also the weakest reported December since the Global Financial Crisis back in 2008.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said that in the context of pandemic restrictions limiting access to dealerships and international supply issues, the new vehicle market in Australia remains positive.
“Despite the pandemic restricting access to showrooms in 2021, Australian consumers found ways to purchase new vehicles and did so in solid numbers,” Mr Weber said.
“The global shortage of microprocessors, compounded by the pandemic, had an impact on the number of cars sold throughout Australia. Automotive manufacturers are continuing to work to strengthen supply chains in 2022.”
