VFACTS June: Utes dominate EOFY sales rush

Three utes – the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-MAX – racked up almost 15,000 sales between them in last month’s end-of-financial-year sell-a-thon, filling the podium for the nation’s top-selling models and epitomising the boom in light commercial vehicles this year.

As some states were forced into lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreaks, and ongoing supply shortages hampered many car-makers, a total of 110,664 new vehicles were sold in Australia in June, marking a relatively weak 0.4 per cent increase on the corresponding month last year.

Half of them were SUVs, and more than a quarter were LCVs, as these two major categories underpin the local automotive sector with year-to-date growth of 37.7 and 32.7 per cent respectively.

This compares to traditional passenger car sales that have risen 6.9 per cent, but now only account for 21.3 per cent of all sales. And of these, 70 per cent are light and small cars.

The Ford Ranger led the way in June with 6058 sales (+13.7%), ahead of its arch-rival Toyota HiLux on 5412 (-17.2%) and another strong performance from the Isuzu D-MAX on 3167 (+92.9%).

With remaining stock of the Toyota LandCruiser running dry during the month ahead of the all-new 300 Series arriving late this year (or early in 2022, if the pandemic delays shipping), the top five best-selling models were rounded out by the Mazda CX-5 (3018) and Kia Cerato (2711).

Total sales across all brands for the full six months place the industry a solid 28.3 per cent ahead of the COVID-struck first half of last year and, importantly, 2.3 per cent up on H1 2019, when there was no pandemic crushing sales and consumer and business confidence.

For Toyota, there was not the usual sea of red among the best-selling 10 models last month – HiLux was joined by Prado, RAV4 and Corolla in sixth, ninth and 10th place respectively – and the brand’s overall June sales were down 7.8 per cent.

For the year to date, however, Toyota has sold almost twice as many cars as its nearest rival, Mazda, 118,953 to 60,446, and its sales are up 21.7 per cent over the term, showing the bigger picture in which most of the leading brands are enjoying solid double-digit growth of more than 20 per cent.

HiLux is also the top-selling model so far this year across all categories with 28,076 units – 2740 clear of Ranger – while the RAV4 is the best-selling SUV (20,359) and the Corolla the number-one passenger car (13,819).

Behind Toyota and Mazda, there’s an intense battle being waged among four other brands – Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Mitsubishi – which are all vying for a podium position for the full year, yet could also find themselves outside the top five, such is the tightness of the contest.

Only 1191 sales separate Hyundai in third and Mitsubishi in sixth for the year to date, and their fortunes in the second half will largely rest on supply that hinges on international scheduling and a global shortage of computer chips.

The industry’s peak body, the FCAI, sounded an optimistic note today in releasing the latest results, with CEO Tony Weber saying “the delivery challenges caused by microprocessor shortages and bottlenecks in the supply chain are yet to be fully resolved, however all parties are continuing to find ways to meet the strong demand for customers across all sectors”.

“It is our expectation that these issues will begin to be resolved as the global economy continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19,” Weber said.

“Right now, we would expect customer demand across all segments to remain strong for the second half of 2021 which has the market on track to return to a result in excess of one million vehicles.”

Weber also pointed to improvements in both government and rental vehicle sales, the latter reflecting a surge in domestic tourism, but private buyers are leading the charge with almost 300,000 sales this year – up 38.7 per cent and representing more than half of all new vehicles sold.

Chinese brand MG continues to impress, outselling Nissan last month for eighth position (4303 sales versus 4036) and strengthening its top-10 spot among the leading brands for the year to date, although a fast-closing Isuzu UTE is looming large in the rear-view mirror.

MG3 is easily Australia’s most popular light car, while the MG ZS is still the top-selling small SUV so far this year, helping MG to 19,544 total sales across the first half – up 240 per cent over last year, when it was one of the few brands still performing well at the height of the pandemic.

Fellow Chinese car-maker GWM, covering both the GWM and Haval brands, has also found 260 per cent growth this year, led by the new GWM Ute and with the new Haval Jolion making an immediate impact.

LDV sales are also up 127 per cent this year as China is now entrenched as the fourth-biggest country of origin for new vehicles in Australia (with 35,869 cars), well past Germany (23,185) but still miles behind Japan (196,315), Thailand (123,953), where most of our utes come from, and South Korea (78,776).

Among the premium players, Mercedes-Benz Cars is the market leader with 16,141 sales this year (+12.4%), ahead of BMW on 14,108 (+12.1%) and Audi on 9013 (+24.7%).

The booming ute segment has contributed to 32.5 per cent growth of diesel-engined vehicle sales this year, with 187,147 oil-burning vehicles (not including heavy commercials) driving out of showrooms.

This compares to 319,247 petrol-powered cars (+22.8%), 36,658 hybrids (+57.8%), 1440 plug-in hybrids (+90.7%) and 2217 EVs (+187.5%), the latter not including Tesla models as the US car-maker doesn’t report its figures.

Top 10 brands (2021 year to date):
Toyota – 118,953
Mazda – 60,446
Hyundai – 38,634
Kia – 37,894
Ford – 37,883
Mitsubishi – 37,443
Nissan – 23,982
Volkswagen – 20,891
Subaru – 20,093
MG – 19,544

Top 10 vehicles (June 2021):
Ford Ranger – 6058
Toyota HiLux – 5412
Isuzu D-MAX – 3167
Mazda CX-5 – 3018
Kia Cerato – 2711
Toyota Prado – 2610
Toyota RAV4 – 2501
Hyundai i30 – 2331
Mitsubishi Triton – 2240
Toyota Corolla – 2175