VFACTS January: Strong start to 2021

New vehicle sales have picked up where they left off at the end of last year – in strong form – with the market recording an 11.1 per cent upswing in January as 79,666 buyers drove out of showrooms across Australia.

The result marks the third successive month of double-digit growth as consumer and business confidence returns in parallel with an improving national outlook in both economic and health terms, after plunging to record-low depths during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

However, dealers across many brands are warning buyers that stock shortages are inevitable across their most popular model lines as international production schedules impact Australian supplies.

January’s result was underpinned by solid growth in SUV and ute sales, and was reflected in the performance of a most leading brands including dominant market leader Toyota, which racked up 16,819 sales (+13.6%).

Toyota had top-selling models in a variety of segments and the Toyota HiLux maintained its position as the number one vehicle in the land with 3913 sales (+31.8%).

As HiLux kept the second-placed Ford Ranger (3120, +18.9%) at bay, the Toyota RAV4 finished third overall (and retained its mantle as the nation’s most popular SUV) with 2066 sales and the Toyota LandCruiser (2388, +89.2%) continued its incredible run of form to take fourth in the lead-up to a model changeover this year.

The fact that four utes and four SUVs figured in the top 10 best-selling models says everything about the state of the market.

Light commercial vehicles recorded a 24.6 per cent sales increase last month, followed by SUVs on 24.6 per cent and heavy commercial vehicles on 13.2 per cent, as passenger cars fell 9.3 per cent.

Beyond Toyota, among the top-selling brands Kia was a standout performer, racking up 5500 sales (+16.9%) to overtake both Ford and Mitsubishi and secure a top-four position behind second-placed Mazda and third-placed Hyundai (see our table below).

All of these brands had positive results last month, meaning it came down to the level of growth; Mitsubishi was up by only 1.4 per cent, and Hyundai 9.3 per cent, while Mazda and Ford improved 27.1 and 22.3 per cent respectively.

Subaru enjoyed a return to form with 3223 sales (+43.2%), finishing just over 500 units short of Nissan and back to a comfortable top-10 position to which it’s more accustomed, whereas Volkswagen was the only brand among the leading players in negative territory – down 16.1 per cent for the month but still holding ninth, albeit just edging out Mercedes-Benz Cars.

Making good on its promise to secure a top 10 position in Australia before too long, Chinese brand MG finished in 11th position last month with 2408 sales – a 162 per cent increase on January last year and a strong signal to its competitors that it’s a force to be reckoned with.

MG, with its affordable, expanding and ever-improving model line-up, finished ahead of various other big-name brands including Isuzu UTE (2363), Honda (2290), Suzuki (1613), BMW (1701) and Audi (1455).

The other Chinese brands also continued to perform well. LDV notched up 770 sales – twice as many as it did in the same month a year ago – while a restructure has seen the Great Wall and Haval brands combine as ‘GWM’ under the VFACTS reporting system, and together the ute and SUV model lines recorded 769 sales.

GWM’s result marks a 136 per cent increase on January 2020, and includes the first full month of sales for the new GWM Ute, which managed 277 units – a number the company says was “beyond initial expectations” and should increase as fresh supplies come in to meet demand.

It’s early days yet, but amid the buoyancy there were several brands that logged a slow start to the year. Honda and Renault, for example, were both down by more than 30 per cent, and Alfa Romeo was down by more than 40 per cent.

And for the record, not a single sale was recorded in the ledger next to the Holden brand name, officially signalling the end of the road for the lion brand.

Top 10 brands in January 2021:
Toyota – 16,819
Mazda – 8508
Hyundai – 5951
Kia – 5500
Mitsubishi – 5179
Ford – 5099
Nissan – 3756
Subaru – 3223
Volkswagen – 2722
Mercedes-Benz Cars – 2443

Top 10 vehicles in January 2021:
Toyota HiLux – 3913
Ford Ranger – 3120
Toyota RAV4 – 3066
Toyota LandCruiser – 2388
Mazda CX-5 – 2081
Toyota Corolla – 2062
Hyundai i30 – 1952
Mitsubishi Triton – 1908
Isuzu D-MAX – 1822
Nissan X-TRAIL – 1593