VFACTS January 2022: Chinese brands thrive as luxury vehicles suffer

Chinese brands MG, GWM Haval and LDV thrived in January’s new-car market as the world’s global microchip shortage continued to hinder sales of luxury vehicles and popular mainstream models.

The Australian new-car market posted its third-lowest January of the past 13 years, with 75,863 units registered according to official industry figures released today.

It leaves the market down by five per cent, or 3803 vehicles, compared with January 2021

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Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Genesis, and Maserati were just four of the 18 luxury brands competing in the market to enjoy growth last month. Sales of Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Lexus, Mini, Porsche and Rolls-Royce all declined by at least 29 per cent.

Honda (down 49 per cent), Nissan (down 38 per cent), Skoda (down 63 per cent) and Volkswagen (down 44 per cent) were the biggest strugglers among mainstream brands.

Toyota sales also dropped despite remaining the best-selling brand, losing nearly 1500 units (nine per cent) compared with January 2021.

In contrast, MG had two models in the top 10 best-sellers chart for the first time, with sales up by 47 per cent to make it the seventh most popular car brand in Australia last month.

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GWM Haval increased sales by more than 50 per cent to 1163 registrations and light-commercial specialist LDV is up 37 per cent with 1052 sales last month.

Mitsubishi and Mazda were the only two regular members of Australia’s top 10 brands to increase sales year on year – up 26 and 15 per cent, respectively. Kia sales were static, which was a relatively positive result compared with sister brand Hyundai, which fell 14 per cent.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) admitted conditions remained challenging for manufacturers to meet strong customer demand.

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

“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.”

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Utes were the country’s most popular vehicle type last month when combining 4x4 and 4x2 variants, with the former accounting for 13,653 units of a 16,017 total.

Nearly 15,000 medium SUVs (14,876 units) left showrooms for a similar result to January 2021. Light SUVs was the only SUV segment to grow (up six per cent) as the SUV share of the market barely changed.

Light-commercial vehicles grew their share from 22 to 24 per cent, at the expense of passenger cars that are down from 23 to 21 per cent of the market.

Small cars and sports cars suffered the most last month, both down nearly 30 per cent.

Top 10 models

Fresh from being crowned Australia’s favourite vehicle for a sixth consecutive year, the Toyota HiLux ute kept the status quo for January despite a small decrease in sales and a small rise for its regular rival, the Ford Ranger.

In a sensational month for the Mazda CX-5, the Japanese mid-sized SUV almost upset the Ranger with one of its strongest monthly performances.

There was a shock for the Toyota RAV4, which was the most popular SUV in 2021. The RAV4 failed to make it into the top 10, with sales more than halving to 1425 units compared to the same month last year.

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After falling out of the top 10 for the first time in December, Toyota’s Corolla (down 30 per cent) missed out again in January – with 1442 sales. It left the Hyundai i30 as the sole flag-waver for small cars.

It also left the rare sight of just two Toyotas in the top 10, where it typically has a minimum of three entrants. The Japanese brand’s second model was the Prado 4WD (up 89 per cent), which made several appearances in the chart in 2021.

Notable results don’t stop there for January. The ZS compact SUV made a few appearances in the best-sellers list last year but last month was joined by the MG3 city car.

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And the Subaru Forester achieved something it never did in the whole of 2021 by making it into the top 10.

Top 10 models: January 2022

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Top 10 brands

Volkswagen and Nissan were the two biggest absentees from January’s list of most popular manufacturers.

VW’s supply of the Golf, Tiguan and Touareg is almost non-existent, while the Amarok ute was down 55 per cent in its run-out year ahead of a new-generation model being revealed later in 2022. It left the Polo city car as the German brand’s unlikely top-selling vehicle, with just 422 units.

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It’s a similar story for VW’s Czech brand Skoda, where sales have plummeted 63 per cent year on year.

Nissan sales were down 38 per cent, with the Japanese marque no doubt looking forward to new-generation versions of the X-Trail and Qashqai going on sale later this year.

January was a relative struggle for the market’s dominant brand Toyota, with significant drops for the RAV4, Corolla and Yaris primarily accounting for a nine per cent year-on-year decline.

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MG equalled its best position with seventh, helped by two of the three vehicles it sells landing in the Top 10 Vehicles list and contributing to 47 per cent growth.

Mitsubishi secured third spot with a healthy 26 per cent jump, while Mazda and Isuzu both registered 15 per cent increases over January 2021.

Kia last year threatened to overtake its affiliate company Hyundai before its challenge faded away. But as it did in January 2021, it came out on top last month.

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Ford Australia and Subaru remain solid despite sales declines. Mercedes-Benz occupied 10th place as it did in January 2021.

Top 10 brands: January 2022

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In charts

January 2022 - Top 10 models

January 2022 - Top 10 brands

January 2022 - Overall segment sales

January 2022-2021 category sales