VFACTS August 2022: Car sales rebound as supply improves

HiLux topped Ranger in a big August sales race, but it was Tesla and EVs in general that really hit new heights. Kia in third also impressed.

3 Years Ago

Mike Costello

Mike Costello

Australia’s new vehicle sales (checked against registrations) rebounded in August, up 17.3 per cent over the same month last year to 95,256 cars.

It was the best August in five years, suggesting the supply of vehicles is steadily improving. It also takes the year-to-date tally to 717,575, down 2.1 per cent on 2021.

The Toyota HiLux retained its number-one position ahead of the Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4, but it was the EV market that showed some of the best growth.

With Model Y deliveries finally underway alongside the Model 3, Tesla finished as the seventh top-selling brand overall, and helped drive EVs to an overall 4.4 per cent market share – a figure that doesn’t include any BYDs, deliveries of which commenced September 2.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) called this the highest monthly market share for battery electric cars in Australia to date. March 2022 was 5.5 per cent, but the quirk is that this included all of Tesla’s quarter-one tally.

The growth in sales was driven in large part by the the most populous States: New South Wales (up 40 per cent), Victoria (up 18.4 per cent), and Queensland (up 11.7 per cent).

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the positive result was “encouraging” amidst the global economic recovery from the pandemic – although we’d add inflation and interest rate hikes may soon take a toll.

“The August VFACTS sales are the best August result since 2017. This gives hope that the supply of vehicles to the Australian market is beginning to show signs of improvement,” he said.

Brands

Toyota topped the tables as per… always, and took 21.6 per cent market share. It was also number one in each of the passenger, SUV, and light commercial markets.

But its closest competitors for the month all grew at a faster clip: Mazda (up 15.4 per cent), Kia (33.9 per cent), Hyundai (32.4 per cent), Mitsubishi (32.9 per cent), and Ford (15.4 per cent).

Kia extended its annual lead over traditionally bigger Hyundai – its main shareholder – with respective year-to-date tallies of 52,910 sales versus 51,602.

Rounding out the top 10 were Tesla with 3397 deliveries (equal to 80.2 per cent of the overall market’s EV tally), ahead of MG (up only 2.1 per cent after years of double digit growth), Subaru (down 8.4 per cent), and Mercedes-Benz (up 22.1 per cent).

Other companies that showed good growth, listed in sales order, included GWM/Haval (up 44.6 per cent), BMW (up 51.8 per cent), Suzuki (up 105.2 per cent), Renault (up 44.0 per cent), Ram (up 55.9 per cent), Porsche (up 42.7 per cent), and Genesis (up 78.0 per cent).

New-to-market brands Cupra (116 sales) and Polestar (38 sales) have no August 2021 tally to compare against.

As the list below shows, most carmakers actually saw growth for the month, with a few higher-profile exceptions including supply-restricted Land Rover (down 39.6 per cent), Skoda (down 39.3 per cent), Volkswagen (down 24.4 per cent), Nissan (down 22.9 per cent), Lexus (down 20.4 per cent), Isuzu Ute (down 9.6 per cent), and Subaru (down 8.4 per cent).

Brand	Sales	Change*
Toyota	20,616	3.3%
Mazda	8824	15.4%
Kia	6780	33.9%
Hyundai	6643	32.4%
Mitsubishi	6380	32.9%
Ford	5839	15.4%
Tesla	3397	N/A
MG	3074	2.1%
Subaru	2960	-8.4%
Mercedes-Benz	2886	22.1%
Volkswagen	2868	-24.4%
Isuzu Ute	2800	-9.6%
GWM	2637	44.6%
BMW	2395	51.8%
Suzuki	2144	105.2%
Nissan	1666	-22.9%
LDV	1438	26.0%
Audi	1350	18.1%
Honda	1260	33.9%
Renault	746	44.0%
Volvo Car	711	29.5%
Jeep	682	17.4%
Ram	552	55.9%
Lexus	477	-20.4%
Skoda	409	-39.3%
SsangYong	358	36.6%
Land Rover	327	-39.6%
Mini	312	20.5%
Porsche	301	42.7%
Chevrolet	273	37.9%
Peugeot	203	2.5%
Cupra	116	N/A
Genesis	89	78.0%
Jaguar	86	-39.4%
Fiat	73	-40.2%
Alfa Romeo	59	9.3%
Maserati	45	40.6%
Polestar	38	N/A
Lamborghini	25	257.1%
Ferrari	23	53.3%
Bentley	17	-34.6%
Aston Martin	13	18.2%
McLaren	13	44.4%
Citroen	9	80.0%
Rolls-Royce	4	-33.3%
Caterham	2	N/A
Iveco Bus	2	N/A
Chrysler	1	-96.2%

Models

The HiLux bested the Ranger despite the latter having all the hype (albeit less of the supply), with the RAV4 topping the SUV charts and finishing with the monthly bronze medal.

The number-one passenger car was the electric Tesla Model 3. Rounding out the top 10 were the Mazda CX-5, Toyota Corolla, Mitsubishi Triton, Hyundai i30, Isuzu D-Max, and Toyota Prado.

All told, across the top 20 nameplates, there were five medium SUVs, four utes, four small passenger cars, two medium sedans, two large SUVs, two small SUVs, and one upper-large SUV.

Segments

Micro Cars: Kia Picanto (636), Mitsubishi Mirage (52), Fiat 500 (8)
Light Cars under $25,000: MG 3 (709), Mazda 2 (520), Kia Rio (484)
Light Cars over $25,000: Mini Hatch (188), Audi A1 (20), Citroen C3 (4)
Small Cars under $40,000: Toyota Corolla (2115), Hyundai i30 (1975), Mazda 3 (1500)
Small Cars over $40,000: Mercedes-Benz A-Class (295), Audi A3 (269), BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe (219)
Medium Cars under $60,000: Toyota Camry (1184), Mazda 6 (217), Volkswagen Passat (67)
Medium Cars over $60,000: Tesla Model 3 (2380), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (306), BMW 3 Series (246)
Large Cars under $70,000: Kia Stinger (49), Skoda Superb (37)
Large Cars over $70,000: BMW 5 Series (64), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (36), Audi A6 (28)
Upper LargeCars: Mercedes-Benz S-Class (20), Mercedes-Benz EQS (19), BMW 7 Series (7)
People Movers: Kia Carnival (622), Hyundai Staria (148), Mercedes-Benz V-Class (97)
Sports Cars under $80,000: Ford Mustang (261), Subaru BRZ (98), Mazda MX-5 and BMW 2 Series (58)
Sports Cars over $80,000: BMW 4 Series (124), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (53), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (34)
Sports Cars over $200,000: Porsche 911 (25), Ferrari range (23), Lamborghini two-door range (20)

Light SUVs: Kia Stonic (788), Toyota Yaris Cross (770), Suzuki Jimny (672)
Small SUVs under $40,000: Mazda CX-30 (1516), MG ZS (1463), Mitsubishi ASX (1100)
Small SUVs over $40,000: Audi Q3 (483), Volvo XC40 (297), Mercedes-Benz GLA (282)
Medium SUVs under $60,000: Toyota RAV4 (2482), Mazda CX-5 (2325), Hyundai Tucson (1719)
Medium SUVs over $60,000: Tesla Model Y (1017), BMW X3 (420), Mercedes-Benz GLC (316)
Large SUVs under $70,000: Toyota Prado (1903), Toyota Kluger (1682), Isuzu MU-X (872)
Large SUVs over $70,000: Mercedes-Benz GLE (314), BMW X5 (242), Land Rover Defender (133)
Upper Large SUVs under $100,000: Toyota LandCruiser Wagon (1213), Nissan Patrol (496)
Upper Large SUVs over $100,000: Mercedes-Benz GLS (115), BMW X7 (89), Audi Q8 (44)

Light Vans: Volkswagen Caddy (43), Peugeot Partner (16), Renault Kangoo (14)
Medium Vans: Toyota HiAce (642), Hyundai Staria Load (326), LDV G10 (316)
Large Vans: Renault Master (286), Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (233), LDV Deliver 9 (16)
Light Buses: Toyota HiAce (172), Toyota Coaster (32), LDV Deliver 9 (21)
4×2 Utes: Toyota HiLux (1885), Ford Ranger (467), Mitsubishi Triton (330)
4×4 Utes: Toyota HiLux (4329), Ford Ranger (4030), Mitsubishi Triton (1757)