VFACTS: January sales slip 5% on 2021

NEW vehicle registrations in January were down by 4.8 per cent (or 3803 vehicles) compared with the same month last year as the ongoing microprocessor shortage and Covid-19 pandemic-related supply constraints continued to impact new-vehicle sales across Australia. It marked a decrease of 158.5 vehicle sales per day (January 2022 and January 2021 had 24 selling days).

According to figures released today by the FCAI, the passenger-vehicle market was down by 2835 vehicles (-15.3%) in relation to the corresponding month last year. The SUV market fell by 1947 units (-4.7%), while the light commercial vehicle market improved by 774 vehicle (4.4%). Heavy vehicle sales also increased by 223 units (10.9%) versus January 2021.

A total of 75,863 vehicles were sold in January 2022 and Tasmania was the only state to register an increase in sales – its total of 1468 units represented an improvement of 15.4 per cent. Sales in Western Australia were down 7.8 per cent with 7578 vehicles sold, Queensland fell 1.3 per cent to 16,423 units, and Victoria slipped by 1.6 per cent with a total of 20,397 new vehicles registered.

The trend continued in South Australia where sales decreased by 2.2 per cent to 5170 units, while sales in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory fell by 13.0 per cent to 617 units and by 9.7 per cent to 1175 units respectively.

“The microprocessor shortage and the pandemic’s impact on supply chains continues into 2022. This is an issue impacting markets all over the globe. Despite this, consumer interest, inquiry, and the demand for new cars in Australia remains strong,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber explained.

“Manufacturers are continuing to work hard to address supply chain and production issues. We are also experiencing bottlenecks in having vehicles processed from some Australian ports. We will continue to work with all parties involved to resolve the issue,” he added.

Toyota was again the market leader in January 2022 with 15,333 vehicles sold. Mazda took second place with 6533 unit sales, ahead of Mitsubishi (6533), Kia (5520) and Hyundai (5128).

The Toyota HiLux continued to be Australia’s highest selling model with 3591 examples sold in January. The HiLux narrowly outsold the Ford Ranger (3245) which finished in second place ahead of the Mazda CX-5 (3213), Mitsubishi Triton (2876) and Toyota LandCruiser Prado (2566).

Top 10 sales by make (January 2022):

Top 10 sales by model (January 2022):

Top vehicle sales by state (January 2022):