November VFACTS: Car sales run hot

Australian car buyers have shrugged off the coronavirus blues and returned to showrooms en masse last month to record the first positive sales result for the industry this year with more than 95,000 new vehicles sold.

This is an increase of almost 10,500 sales – or 12.4 per cent – over November 2019, when COVID-19 was anything but a household name, and also represents the sector’s first positive monthly sales result in more than two-and-a-half years.

This has everything to do with pent-up demand from buyers coming out of lockdown and the easing of restrictions across Australia, including state and territory borders reopening, which has restored confidence and prompted many people to look to a new vehicle purchase in lieu of international travel.

This is also shown by the fact that private buyers – rather than business, government or rental fleet companies – were behind the outstanding November result, with more than 46,000 private sales marking a 32 per cent upswing.

Strong percentage increases were recorded across all states bar Tasmania, including the big-selling markets of New South Wales (30,343, +13%), Queensland (19,874, +19.5%) and, at long last, Victoria (26,616, +9.1%).

Many of the big-name vehicle brands enjoyed the long-awaited return of foot traffic in dealerships, with market leader Toyota racking up 23,204 sales – a 36.9 per cent increase on November last year – with the Toyota HiLux reaffirming its status as Australia’s Most Wanted with 5038 sales for the month.

Indeed, Toyota had five of the top six best-selling vehicles across the entire market last month, with the Ford Ranger the only thorn in its side as the nation’s number-two on 4260 sales.

After that it was a sea of red branding with the Toyota RAV4 (3800), LandCruiser (2947), Corolla (2774) and Prado (2606) rounding out the top six placings, with the Mazda CX-5 the next best (2412) and the all-new Isuzu D-MAX flexing its muscle with 2095 sales for the month.

Mazda reasserted its long-held (though not always rock-solid) position in second place overall with 9053 sales – an impressive 46.8 per cent increase – while Hyundai (6903, +1.2%) only just managed to hold third from the Ranger-led Ford (6613, +33.2%).

Mitsubishi was a rare exception, suffering a 20 per cent sales downturn for the month with only 5488 runs on the board, leaving the door open for a fast-closing Kia (5376, +4.6%) which is now only 579 units behind in the triple-diamond brand in year-to-date sales terms – setting up a big run to the finish line which could hand the Korean brand a coveted fifth position overall.

Among the other major players, Volkswagen, Nissan and Honda were also down last month, Subaru was slightly up, while among the prestige players BMW led the pack with 2647 sales – a 52.9 per cent increase and 11th position in the market overall. (Isuzu Ute kept it out of a top-10 placing with 2943 sales, owing everything to D-MAX.)

Mercedes-Benz, which remains the prestige market leader across the entire year thus far, recorded 2638 sales (-4.4%) while Audi was in third, and positive territory, with 1819 units (+13.1%).

Chinese brand MG sold 2021 cars last month to continue its strong run in defiance of the COVID-19 pandemic, its sales for the year now up 133 per cent.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) chief executive Tony Weber said consumer confidence was a key factor behind the industry’s turnaround.

“Recent Australian new vehicles sales have seen 31 months of straight decline. This has been caused by a number of well recognised factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental and financial issues,” he said.

“With the Australian economy showing improvement, it’s good news to see new vehicle sales trending in a more positive direction.

“Why are we seeing an improvement now? We believe there are a few contributing factors, including rising optimism from the Australian public as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

“This increase in consumer confidence is backed by government support programs during the pandemic, the easing of lending restrictions, and the current competitive automotive market.

“We also believe that, given our inability to travel internationally, many Australians are choosing to purchase a new vehicle and holiday at home this year – and we fully expect to see a notable increase in family driving trips over the Christmas season,” he said.

Top 10 brands for the year to date:
Toyota – 181,331
Mazda – 77, 084
Hyundai – 58,073
Ford – 53,295
Mitsubishi – 51,955
Kia – 51,376
Volkswagen – 35,975
Nissan – 34,107
Subaru – 28,099
Honda – 26,421

Top 10 vehicles for the month:
Toyota HiLux – 5038
Ford Ranger – 4260
Toyota RAV4 – 3800
Toyota LandCruiser – 2947
Toyota Corolla – 2774
Toyota Prado – 2606
Mazda CX-5 – 2412
Isuzu D-MAX – 2095
Hyundai i30 – 2047
Hyundai Tucson – 1995