VFACTS June: Toyota HiLux hits new record sales

The Toyota HiLux posted an all-time record monthly sales result last month of 7582 vehicles, helping the market-leading Japanese brand almost single-handedly keep the Aussie car industry afloat as it buckles under the weight of chronic supply shortages.

Not since 2011 has the industry posted less than 100,000 sales in the traditional end-of-financial-year frenzy, which back then came as a direct result of lingering stock shortages for Toyota caused by a devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami that struck a few months earlier.

There was no EOFY sizzle for the broader industry last month with 99,974 sales marking a 9.7 per cent decrease on June 2021 and deepening the year-to-date downturn that now places new-vehicle registrations 5.2 per cent in arrears at the halfway mark.

Toyota’s 22,561 sales handed it a formidable 22.6 per cent share of the market, and for HiLux its 7500-plus result bettered its previous monthly record of 6537 set in June 2020.

If HiLux was a motor company, the ute would have finished in fourth position on the brand sales charts – outselling the likes of Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Volkswagen and Ford.

But it’s about to face its toughest test as the first shipments of the new-generation Ford Ranger move into the hands of dealers next week and then straight out the door to owners who placed their orders months ago.

While Ford has been stuck selling the last remnants of outgoing Ranger stock in Australia while the factory in Thailand changes over to the new model, managing just 2802 sales in June (-53.7%), Toyota cleared the showroom floors with a 40.1 per cent increase in HiLux sales even as it, too, battles its own supply problems that have seen stop-sale orders placed on popular versions of the ute.

Perhaps tellingly, a large slab of HiLux sales last month (2227) were more affordable, tradie-oriented 4x2 models.

Pent-up demand for the Toyota LandCruiser (2783), Toyota Corolla (2605) and Toyota RAV4 (2586) also contributed to Brand T’s buoyant result in June – fulfilling orders that in many cases were placed long ago and handing it four of the top six best-selling models – as Ranger and a fresh shipment of Hyundai Tucson models (2840) provided the only cut-through.

Kia had one car in the top 10, the Sportage in eighth position, but the Korean brand proved that last month’s feat of taking second place overall in the market behind Toyota was not a one-off, racking up 8480 sales in June.

Hyundai also put in a repeat performance to claim third place with 8259 sales, although in year-to-date terms both Korean brands are still behind Mazda (6245 in June), which suffered a 48.9 per cent sales blow last month to be down 17.4 per cent for the year to date, and Mitsubishi (5846), which is one of only a few volume-selling mainstream brands in positive territory this year.

Outside the top five, Ford (4972) held onto sixth position last month as it continues to struggle with the Ranger and Everest model changeovers, while MG (4403) maintained its strong form in seventh and Mercedes-Benz Cars (3909) returned to the winner’s circle in eighth as long-overdue cars seen on transporters across the nation in recent weeks made their way into customers’ hands.

Rounding out the top 10 last month was Subaru (3575) and Isuzu Ute (3457), while outside the main table was Volkswagen (2993), Suzuki (2536), GWM/Haval (2440) and BMW (2327).

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) chief executive Tony Weber said the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic “continues to hamper automotive manufacturing” and that this, combined with the war in Ukraine and shipping issues, “means that the supply of new vehicles hitting Australia’s shores cannot keep up with demand”.

“Globally, car-makers are continuing to suffer from plant shutdowns. In Europe, we have component supply heavily impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. Microprocessors continue to be in short supply and global shipping remains unpredictable,” he said.

“While demand for new cars remains strong in Australia, it is unlikely we will see supply chain issues resolve in the near future.”

That does not bode well for the second half of the year – and into 2023 – but Toyota, for one, is on track for an all-time record annual result, having sold 121,377 new vehicles in the first half.

This puts Toyota ahead of last year’s January-to-June running pace by 2.0 per cent and, notwithstanding the fact that it has plenty of its own supply issues to deal with, could see it overtake the 238,983 sales racked up in 2008, just before the global financial crisis walloped the local market.

Across the major vehicle categories last month, sales were down for passenger cars (-21%), SUVs (-2.3%) and light commercial vehicles (-16.5%), but there were some positive showings in key segments such as mid-size SUVs (+16%), upper-large SUVs (+34%) and 4x2 pick-ups/cab-chassis (+18.3%).

There were 633 RAM pick-up trucks sold in June, taking the locally-converted US full-size ute brand past 2500 sales for the year.

At the other end of the environmental ledger, Australians bought 1137 electric cars last month, including 201 examples of the Polestar 2 and 137 Tesla Model 3 EVs.

There were also 570 plug-in hybrid cars sold in June and a tick over 6400 regular hybrids.

For the year to date, 9680 EVs sales have been recorded, along with nine fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), 2941 PHEVs and 41,056 hybrids.

Combined, these greener electrified cars make up 10.4 per cent of the total market of 515,506 sales, excluding heavy commercial vehicles. EVs alone currently account for 1.9 per cent.

Top 10 brands (2022 year to date):

Top 10 vehicles (June 2022):

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