Market Insight: Mid-size car market sparks

SOMETHING unusual happened with Australia’s once-lifeless medium passenger car category in September – it rose.

Even more unusual, it rose barely any contribution from the major players and, in fact, class-leader Toyota Camry dropped 21 per cent in year-to-date VFACTS data on the industry’s ubiquitous supply problems.

All the attention goes to the $60,000-plus medium-car bracket, where the impetus was driven by year-to-date inclusion of the Tesla 3 (which in 2021 did not provide sales data) making a contribution of 8647 units for the year and 1610 units for the month of September.

The figure is remarkable and – in light of the Tesla 3 outselling the Toyota Camry for the same nine-month period – a bucket of cold water in the face of EV naysayers.

It makes an EV the best-selling medium-size passenger car, holding almost 46 per cent of the $60,000-plus category and 29 per cent of the whole medium car sector.

Almost one person in three seeking a new mid-size car bought a Tesla 3.

Tesla sales alone kicked a lot of life back into the statistics but the brand was not alone. The all-electric Polestar 2 has sold 779 units this year (and 85 in September) to help boost numbers, along with the new Volkswagen Arteon (387 sales), BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe (731 sales) and another electric car, BMW’s i4, achieved 194 sales.

Volvo’s V60 Cross Country startled with a 335.3 per cent sales leap on 148 sales for the year and 18 for the month, this monthly figure equating almost to the model’s sales across the entire first nine months of 2021.

The Genesis G70 sedan and wagon were also up, 33.3 per cent compared with the same nine months of 2021 with 68 sales.

Smaller contributions in the $60,000-plus bracket were made by the Lexus ES (up 24.6 per cent with 649 sales); Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class (up 33.2 per cent, 1260 sales); and Volvo’s S60 which sold 197 cars for a healthy 84.1 per cent boost over the same period in 2021.

In the sub-$60,000 sector, the Toyota Camry remains dominant with a 73.6 per cent slice of the market. But although 8073 Camrys were delivered, this year’s return is down on the 10,213 units sold in the first nine months of 2021.

Playing in the same classroom as the Camry, the Honda Accord sold 85 units for the year which was up 44.1 per cent on the previous corresponding period; Peugeot’s 508 sold 106 units, up 19.1 per cent; and the Hyundai Sonata found 415 new owners, up 7.5 per cent. 

They were the only winners; the red pen was applied to the Camry and also the Mazda6, the latter down 15.9 per cent with 1009 sales.

Other losers were the Volkswagen Passat, down 10.4 per cent with 542 sales, and its cousin, the Skoda Octavia that saw a 29.4 per cent drop and 736 sales.  

The high-end sector was not all about wins and Tesla’s windfall. There were some models that took the brunt of poor supply pretty tough, such as the Audi A4 (down 40.1 per cent and 387 sales); Audi A5 (down 40.2 per cent and 301 sales); BMW 3 Series (off 25.6 per cent at 2188 sales); and Jaguar XE (down 54.1 per cent, 56 sales).