Key restocks for some OEs contribute to overall lift in VFACTS August 2022 figures
The Toyota HiLux shows no sign of easing off the gas in 2022 after posting another huge month of sales, but with a few suppliers receiving desperately needed stocks, some old favourites – and some new blood – have helped to lift the Australian new vehicle market to a solid 17 per cent lift in August over the same month last year.
The VFACTS August 2022 result is the best in five years, as the market rebounded with 95,256 sales across all segments, up 17.3 per cent on the corresponding month last year.
Interestingly, the resurgence of the Ford Ranger off the back of the launch of the T6.2 has been relatively muted, though it still posted a solid score to land in second place overall.
Slotting into fourth for the month behind the Toyota RAV4, a brace of backlogged deliveries has pushed Tesla’s Model 3 up the charts, despite the brand’s Model Y being the most recent of its launches in Australia.
It elevated Tesla into the top 10 list of brands, tucking in behind Ford in seventh position and outselling MG, Subaru and Volkswagen – plus a raft of big players further back such as Isuzu, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Honda.
The latest deliveries from China of the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y see the market-leading EV brand with 8054 sales this year, which places it well ahead of brands like Land Rover (3217), Jeep (4748), Lexus (4950), Peugeot (1437) and Renault (6435). Honda (9809) is also now in Tesla’s firing line.
The bounce has pushed MG’s ZS SUV out of the top ten for the month, though it still holds down tenth overall year-to-date according to VFACTS August 2022 figures.
Toyota’s new 300 series LandCruiser, the Mazda CX-5, the ubiquitous Toyota Corolla, Mitsubishi’s soon-to-be-replaced Triton, the Hyundai i30 and the Isuzu D-Max round out the top ten for August.
VFACTS August 2022 – best brands
Behind Toyota, Mazda comfortably held onto its accustomed second place with 8824 sales (+15.4%), buoyed by the CX-5 (2325), while Kia was outstanding in third (6780, +33.9%) with Sportage (1237) the most impressive from its strong-performing contingent of SUVs.
Hyundai was close behind in fourth (6643, +32.4%), relying heavily on i30 (1975) and Tucson (1719) for volume, while Mitsubishi rounded out the top five (6380, +32.9%) thanks to Triton (2087) and Outlander (1568).
The triple-diamond brand is hanging on to third position for the year to date, but just 2137 units separate third from fifth – and Kia is only 829 units in arrears.
It’s also very tight at the bottom half of the top 10 table this year as supply largely dictates sales performance and, to some extent, tests brand loyalties, so the run into the final quarter will be telling if we see a wave of shipments from some brands and not others.
In August, Tesla’s spike to seventh-placed it ahead of a softer MG (3074, +2.1%), a struggling Subaru (2960, -8.4%) and a weak Volkswagen (2868, -24.4%).
That left Isuzu out in 11th (2800, -9.6%), followed by GWM/Haval (2637, +44.6%), BMW (2395, +51.8%) and Mercedes-Benz Cars (2386, +25.2%), the latter still holding onto premium market leadership and a top 10 position for the year to date – for now, at least.
Battle of the big utes
At the top of the table, Toyota posted a typically dominant 20,616 sales in August (+3.3%) and the HiLux held sway as the biggest-selling model with a defiant 6214 sales.
The HiLux comfortably held off a resurgent Ford Ranger that managed 4497 sales in the first full month of customer deliveries of the new-generation model, the battle between the two utes now raging again but the results for the remainder of the year hinging on production and supply.
Toyota has the upper hand, with ‘unbreakable’ HiLux sales needing to fall off a cliff to be overtaken by Ranger. The current running tally is at 44,626 versus 27,225 in favour of the red team.
Interestingly, though, when 4×2 sales are separated out, the battle in August was much closer; just 299 units was the gap between HiLux and Ranger in the 4×4 section, with an advantage of more than 1,400 4×2 variants giving HiLux the upper hand.
The Triton (2,087) and the D-Max (1,928) fared well, while GWM’s Ute was up 58 per cent month-to-month, notching 907 sales.
Mazda’s BT-50, on the other hand, is off almost 49 per cent in the 4×4 division over July and 17 per cent year to year, though its 4×2 is holding a slight YtY advantage of 6.2 per cent.
RAM sales continue to do well, with the 1500 (499) outselling the Nissan Navara 4×4 (394) in August, marking a 20 per cent lift year to year.
Ranger made up 77 per cent of Ford’s total sales volume last month, keeping the Blue Oval brand in sixth position (5839, up 15.4%) as the top five Japanese and Korean brands all performed excellently.
VFACTS August 2022 – by the categories
Positive results were seen across all key market segments last month, though no surprise that mid-size SUVs (137,025, +16.9%) and 4×4 utes (128,965, +15.1%) were out in front.
Large and small SUVs both racked up more than 90,000 units apiece, handing SUVs a 51 per cent share of the total market.
That compares to light commercials on 24 per cent and passenger cars on 21 per cent.
Electrified vehicles are now holding a share of more than 10 per cent of total new car sales for the year to date.
However, BEVs currently account for only two per cent of these (14,524), compared to hybrids at 7.6 per cent (54,699) and plug-in hybrids at 0.6 per cent (4059).
EVs took a 4.4 per cent share of the total new-vehicle market in August – the highest ever in a single month in Australia – thanks to the influx of Tesla deliveries.
VFACTS August 2022 – the charts
Top 10 brands (VFACTS August 2022, year to date)
- Toyota – 161,558
- Mazda – 66,635
- Mitsubishi – 53,739
- Kia – 52,910
- Hyundai – 51,602
- Ford – 38,840
- MG – 30,599
- Isuzu – 24,337
- Subaru – 22,779
- Mercedes-Benz Cars – 19,321
Top 10 vehicles (VFACTS August 2022)
- Toyota HiLux – 6214
- Ford Ranger – 4497
- Toyota RAV4 – 2482
- Tesla Model 3 – 2380
- Toyota LandCruiser – 2379
- Mazda CX-5 – 2325
- Toyota Corolla – 2115
- Mitsubishi Triton – 2087
- Hyundai i30 – 1975
- Isuzu D-MAX – 1928
