VFACTS: December 2021

Toyota is Number One for its 25th Year

After the plundering by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, new-car sales initially began to recuperate in the early months of 2021. Then the market was hit with severe supply shortages, and we saw December 2021 deliveries drop to their lowest since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

In 2021, a total of 1,049,831 vehicles were sold across Australia, an increase of 14.5 per cent on 2020 figures. However, December 2021 new-car deliveries were down 18 per cent (to 78,402) versus the same month in 2020, the third consecutive month where sales were in decline. 

SEMICONDUCTOR SHORTAGE 

As deliveries go, the global automotive industry is continuing to compete with other technology companies for access to semiconductors which take 26 weeks to produce. Manufacturers are struggling to produce enough vehicles to cater for demand, forcing customers to wait anywhere from three to 12 months for their cars, with many being asked to accept a lower specified vehicle.  

FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said,  

The global shortage of microprocessors, compounded by the pandemic, had an impact on the number of cars sold throughout Australia. Automotive manufacturers are continuing to work to strengthen supply chains in 2022.

MASSIVE INCREASE IN EV’S 

A positive statistic to note is that a record number of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles were reported as sold in Australia last year (70,446, up 20.3 per cent), with the majority of those delivered by Toyota. Market share for EVs and PHEVs also more than doubled in 12 months, from 0.5% in December 2020 to 1.2% share in 2021. A great sign in the battle against carbon emissions.  

Last year also marked the first time utes and vans outsold conventional passenger cars for the first time in Australian automotive history. 

2021 MARKET SHARE STATS 

Again, Toyota sold double the vehicles to any other brand – for the fourth year consecutively – with a 21.3 per cent market share and 223,642 vehicles sold. In second place, Mazda sold 101,119 vehicles with 9.6 per cent market share. In third place was Hyundai with 72,872 vehicles sold and 6.9 per cent share. In fourth place was Ford with 71,380 vehicles sold, 6.8 per cent market share and finally fifth place, Kia sold 67,964 vehicles, claiming 6.5 per cent market share.