VFACTS: May sales down 6.4%

THE Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released sales statistics for the Australian new-vehicle market in May 2022, during which 6.4 per cent fewer units were sold compared with the corresponding month last year.

The FCAI says 94,383 new vehicles were sold across 25.8 selling days in May, bringing the year-to-date total to 437,884 – a decrease of 249.1 units per day.

FCAI CEO Tony Weber said global supply chains were still struggling to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that demand for new vehicles in Australia continued to outpace supply.

“The global automotive industry continues to be plagued by a shortage of microprocessor units and shipping delays. This issue is not unique to Australia,” said Mr Weber.

“Car makers continue to report high demand across dealer showrooms and online marketplaces. Pandemic interruptions continue to impact manufacturing and conflict in Ukraine has disrupted vehicle-component supply.

“Monthly sales figures are also dependent on shipping arrivals which continue to be uncertain. We do not expect supply chains to stabilise until these issues are resolved.”

The passenger-vehicle market continued to be impacted by supply constraints, with sales down 14.7 per cent (by 2,966 units) compared with May 2021. The SUV market was down 4.0 per cent (by 2,146 units) and the LCV sector down 7.1 per cent (by 1,649 units).

The heavy commercial vehicle sector was the only one to buck the trend in May and finished the month up 8.8 per cent (by 335 units) versus May last year.

Toyota continued to assert its market dominance in May, leading Kia by a margin of 15,506 vehicles (16.5 market share points). Toyota sold 22,813 vehicles for the month of May, ahead of Kia (7,307), Hyundai (7,063), Mazda (6,474) and Mitsubishi (6,086).

The Toyota HiLux again topped the charts as Australia’s best-selling new vehicle with 5,178 units sold across May. The HiLux led the RAV4 (3,925 units), Ford Ranger (3,751), Toyota Corolla (3,310) and Toyota LandCruiser (2,667).

All states and territories saw a drop in sales, apart from the Northern Territory, whose total of 973 units in May represented a 2.4 per cent year-on-year increase in market share point.

New car sales in Queensland fell 11.3 per cent in May (18,997 units), the Australian Capital Territory 11 per cent (1,367 units), Western Australia 9.1 per cent (9,353 units), South Australia 8.2 per cent (6,098 units), Tasmania 6.8 per cent (1,651 units), New South Wales 6.3 per cent (30,757 units), and Victoria 0.8 per cent (25,164 units).

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (May 2022):

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (May 2022):

State by state (May 2022):