Last week, we took a look at the sales rankings for 2022, honoring manufacturers who have delivered impressive numbers in another challenging year and marveling at the near-touching total. 1.1 million vehicles (1,081,429 units).
But the story is much more than that; Australian vehicle buying trends are changing rapidly, not only with the rise in new energy and electric vehicles, but also in the types of vehicles we are buying – and where they come from. .
Interestingly, the data also shows that as the value offering of mainstream brands pushes further upstream – creating space for newcomers below them – we see more and more Buyers move away from the most premium brands and into more premium brands. class of orthodox variants.
The tables and charts that GoAuto have prepared provide an overview of the entire Australian market and provide insights into how trends will change in 2023 and beyond.
Spoiler alert: if you’re selling well-equipped mid-size Chinese-made battery-powered SUVs right now you’re in a pretty good spot.
Universal premium brands fell overall with Lexus down 23.7% (-2201 units), BMW 8.8% in red (-2195), Land Rover down 32.7% (-2111), cars Mercedes-Benz is down 5.5%. (-1547), Audi dropped 7.9% (-1271) and Jaguar plummeted 42.7% (-522) in sales compared to the whole of 2021.
The only three firms bucking the trend were Volvo, which hit an all-time record with 18.7% growth (+1687 units), while Porsche grew 26.6% (+1180) and Porsche
Genesis is up 41.6% from its low base (305 unit gain).
Biggest winner by number of changes: Volvo
Biggest loser in terms of number of changes: Lexus
Popular non-premium brands have mixed results with Nissan showrooms short of stock and customers reaching 35.8% (a massive loss of sales of 14,772 units compared to 2021), Volkswagen 24.1 behind. % compared to 2021 results (-9824 units), Ford down 6.7 percent (-4752), Honda backs 19.1% (-3347), Mazda slips 5.3% (-5401) and Subaru goes back 2.6% (-979).
Kia had a bumper year, up 15.3% (+10,366 units), so did Mitsubishi with an increase of 13.7 (+9259), while Suzuki had a successful year with a gain of 23.5% (+ 4110), Toyota remained stable with 3.3 units sales a cent higher than in 2021 (+7408) and Hyundai still lost to a modest growth of 0.6% (+473).
Biggest winner by number of changes: Kia
Biggest loser by volume change: Nissan
When it comes to fuel type, the move to electrification is hard to ignore. Sales of battery electric vehicles increased nearly as much as the number of gasoline models decreased (28,261 units compared to -28,976 units), while diesel (+14,413) and hybrid models (+11,320) also posted growth. similarly strong.
Biggest winner by volume change: Electric
Biggest loss by change in output: Petrol
Country of origin statistics show that Australians’ love for Chinese cars is continuing to grow at a steady rate. The uptrend for vehicles made in China is strongest (+46,583 units), with Thailand (+15,088) and South Korea (+14.219) also tracking well.
However, cars made in Japan fell sharply in 2022 (-20,873 units) and British cars also dropped (-9630).
Biggest winner by volume change: China
Biggest loser by volume change: Japan
Passenger vehicle sales in 2022 continue to decline relative to more popular light commercial vehicles and SUVs.
In percentage terms, microcars fell the most with a decline of 32.7% on the year while sales of light cars (-3.7%) fell the least.
Small cars (-19.1%) affected, mid-size cars (+24.6%) increased – thanks to stronger sales of popular premium models – full-size cars (+3.9%) ) increased slightly and the upper major segment (- 23.7%) decreased significantly.
By comparison, SUV sales look positive. Except for the small SUV segment (-0.5%) and the large SUV segment (-18.5%), all other SUV segments led the way, with midsize SUVs (+20.0%) growing significantly. compared to the previous year.
Despite being the best-selling car segment in Australia, 4×2 and 4×4 vehicles are up only slightly in percentage terms in 2022, 2.2 and 3.0% respectively.
Biggest winner by percentage change: Midsize car
Biggest losers by percentage change: Big cars
By model, it’s clear that many of the best-selling products in 2021 will still be the most popular in 2022. By segment, we’ve highlighted the best and worst performing products, showing their taste. Australians’ mind when shopping by design.
In the ultra-small car segment, Kia Picanto topped the table with sales of 5196 vehicles (-21.2%), the light car segment saw buyers favor the MG 3 (13,774 units and +17.4%). the premium light car segment is led by the Mini Hatch (1651 and -11.5%), while the reliable Toyota Corolla (25,284 and -12.1%) continues to dominate the popular small car segment.
Topping the premium small car segment is the Mercedes-Benz A-Class with 2840 units sold, but this figure is down 25.1% compared to the previous year’s sales.
Toyota Camry once again dominates the midsize car segment in 2022 with impressive sales of 9538 units. Although these numbers are down significantly from the previous year (-27.1%), Camry has overtaken second place Mazda 6 with a staggering number of 8027 units.
On the premium side of the midsize car segment, the Tesla Model 3 leads with sales of 10,877 units (no percentage as this is Tesla’s first full-year VFACTS report), outselling the Mercedes-Benz C -Class ranked second with a ratio of 3:1.
As for the declining large car segment, the Kia Stinger (2242 units sold, up 59.3% led the general market while the premium segment was led by the BMW 5 Series (457 units, down 24). .5%) Chrysler 300 (79 units sold, down 53.5%) and BMW S-Class (167 units, down 36.5%) topped each side with a split of $100,000.
The passenger car segment was once again dominated by Kia Carnival at number one (8054 units delivered, up 37.4 percent), while among cars priced above $60,000, the Mercedes-Benz V -Class dominates the top spot (sales of 570 units, up 72.7 percent).
Rounding out the passenger car category with those classified as sports cars, Ford’s Mustang topped the price list under $80,000 (1887 sales, down 33.3 percent), the BMW 4 Series topping the category. over $80,000 (1001 units, down 9.6 percent) and the Porsche 911 takes its usual spot at the top of the category above $200k (547 units delivered, up 27.8 percent).
Flipping through the SUV and LCV categories, it’s easy to see how popular these models have become. Comparing the number of SUV and LCV variants on sale with those in the passenger segment proves that Australia is a country that loves high ground vehicles – especially those with four-wheel drive and one-wheel drive. rear tray.
In the light SUV segment, Mazda’s CX-3 remains a popular choice, selling 11,907 units throughout 2022 (-7.5%), while in the next segment, the trajectory of the MG ZS seems to be as unstoppable among small SUVs that sold 22,466 units (+21.9%).
In the premium SUV segment, the Audi Q3 remains a popular choice, with 5048 units sold (-11.5%).
The fiercely competitive midsize SUV segment is topped by Toyota’s RAV4 (34,845 and -2.5%) while Tesla’s Model Y topped the premium segment of the category with sales of 8717 units (without share rate). hundred as this is Tesla’s first full-year VFACTS report), almost double that of second place BMW X3 (4546 units, up 7.2%).
Toyota also won in the large SUV and large SUV segments, where the LandCruiser Prado and LandCruiser posted sales of 21,102 (-0.9%) and 13,152 (-8.4%), respectively. The premium class of each segment went to BMW, with the X5 (3111 and -2.0%) and X7 (840 and +6.2%) leading convincingly.
For smaller trucks, Renault’s Kangoo took the lead with sales of 508 units (-30.6%) while the larger part of the segment was once again dominated by Toyota HiAce, with sales of 8748 units (- 10.1%). .
Although vans are down slightly, the utility side of the light commercial market shows strong growth – especially for Toyota. In the two-wheel drive segment, sales of HiLux increased by 29.1% to 17,062 units and in the four-wheel drive segment, HiLux once again topped the chart with sales of 47,329 units, up 19.6%.
Toyota has topped the Australian sales charts for several decades now, with Holden’s VT-series Commodore being the last model to beat Toyota to the top of the Australian sales chart at the start of the year. millennium.
Indeed, Toyota overtook Mazda in second place by a significant margin – 12.5 points of market share to be exact – and boosted its sales by an impressive 3.3% overall to hit sales. sales 231,050 units, equivalent to about 1/5 of the general market.
Behind Toyota, Mazda sold 95,728 units (-5.3% in 2021) ahead of Kia (78,330 and +15.3%), Mitsubishi (76,991 and +13.7%) and Hyundai (73,345 and +0.6) %).
The top 10 is rounded up by Ford (66,628 and -6.7%), MG (49,582 and +27.1%), Subaru (36,036 and -2.6%), Isuzu (35,323 and -1.2%), and Volkswagen 30,946 and -24.1 percent).
