Car sales bounce back despite it all!

0 0 January 17, 2023 Edit this post

by Alistair Kennedy

Toyota's Hilux ute is the best selling car in Australia for the seventh year in a row.

The Federal Chamber Of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released the final Australian motor vehicle sales figures for 2022.

Despite demand exceeding supply as a result of the usual suspects, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, the Australian automotive market still recorded sales of 1,081,429 new vehicles – an increase of 3 per cent over 2021.

For the 20th straight year Toyota was Australia’s top selling car brand with 231,050 units, an increase of 3.3 per cent.

Although Mazda sales declined by 5.3 per cent it remained a clear second with 95,718 sales, with Kia finishing third (its highest-ever position) with an increase of 15.3 per cent -- and overtaking Korean sibling Hyundai (5th) for the first time.

MG (7th) continued to grow strongly with an increase of 27 per cent over 2021 sales while Isuzu UTE (9th) made the top 10 for the first time, ahead of Volkswagen left languishing in 10th spot.

SUVs and light commercials accounted for an amazing 76.8 per cent of sales and comprised eight of the top 10 vehicles, with only Toyota Corolla (6th) and Hyundai i30 (10th) preventing a clean-sweep.

For the seventh straight year the top-selling Australian vehicle was Toyota Hi-Lux with 64,391 sales, well ahead of Ford Ranger (47,479) and RAV4 (34,845).

Battery electric vehicles accounted for 3.1 per cent of total sales with a total of 33,410 units, well up on the 5149 in 2021.

Add 81,786 Hybrids and 5,937 Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV) and the future is clear.

FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the pathway through COVID recovery, microprocessor shortages and bottlenecks due to global shipping issues had created great challenges for car makers and their dealer networks in 2022.

“While 2022 has been a year of resilience and recovery, 2023 is shaping up as one of the most significant in recent history, particularly in terms of the development of policies that set the direction for the future de-carbonisation of the light vehicle fleet.