VFACTS: February 2022 car sales figures released

The Toyota RAV4 and Mitsubishi Triton were the two sales stars, as February figures show growth despite chip shortages.

3 Mar 2022 at 2:16 pm

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Mike Costello

Senior Contributor

Mike Costello

Senior Contributor

New vehicle sales grew 1.6 per cent in February 2022 over the same month last year, to 85,340 units, with one unusual suspect making the model podium.

Both February 2022 and February 2021 had 24 selling days, so the result represents an increase of 56.8 vehicle sales per day.

Toyota led the overall brand chart and also made the top-two selling models: HiLux was number one as usual, but the RAV4 leapt into second thanks to landed stock satisfying some pent-up demand. Rounding out the top three for similar reasons was the Mitsubishi Triton.

The February tally takes the year-to-date (YTD) figure two months into the calendar year to 161,203 sales across the country, down 1.5 per cent on 2021.

“Global supply chains for microprocessor units are still some distance from full recovery,” said head of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Tony Weber, addressing the single biggest impediment to sales right now.

“The consumer demand for new cars in Australia remains strong and manufacturers are continuing to work hard to get cars into the hands of motorists,” Mr Weber added. Not that this will be much solace to those waiting many, many months for delivery.

Brands

Toyota was the dominant force despite ongoing supply headaches on certain vehicles (LandCruiser 300 in particular), making three of the top five models and topping eight different vehicle segments. Its market share also sat at a massive 24.5 per cent.

Mazda kept second spot, ahead of Mitsubishi which had a bumper month with 26 per cent growth as it finally secured Triton stocks. Yet again, Kia outgunned big brother Hyundai to round out the top five with a Korean one-two punch.

Rounding out the top 10 brands were Ford (down 2.2 per cent), MG (up 24.9 per cent), Subaru (up 19.4 per cent), Nissan (down 26.3 per cent), and Isuzu Ute (up 11 per cent).

Brands that saw precipitous declines included Volkswagen (down 41.3 per cent) and Mercedes-Benz (down 52.5 per cent) – both of which are being chalked up to chip shortage-led supply constraints, and logistics delays.

Mercedes is in month two of its new ‘agency’ business model, but it’s probably too early to get a clear gauge on the impact there, given the sample size and presence of other mitigating factors.

Honda was down 30.2 per cent, a figure that has become familiar since the brand whittled back its range, upped costs, and launched a fixed-price model.

Smaller-volume brands that struggled – principally due to lack of supply – included Audi (down 37.2 per cent), Skoda (down 49.2 per cent), and Land Rover (down 77.3 per cent).

It wasn’t all gloomy of course, with many smaller brands having great months of deliveries.

These included LDV (up 22.1 per cent), Renault (up a massive 248.6 per cent thanks to evidently good supply of Koleos from South Korea), Porsche (up 46.0 per cent), Peugeot (up 56.4 per cent), Chevrolet/GMSV (up a neat 100 per cent), Genesis (up 167.9 per cent), and Alfa Romeo (up 80.6 per cent).

Brand	Sales	Change
Toyota	20,886	Up 13.7%
Mazda	8782	Up 5.5%
Mitsubishi	7813	Up 26.0%
Kia	5881	Up 0.2%
Hyundai	5649	Down 9.6%
Ford	4610	Down 2.2%
MG	3767	Up 24.9%
Subaru	3151	Up 19.4%
Nissan	2820	Down 26.3%
Isuzu Ute	2785	Up 11.0%
BMW	1980	Up 2.0%
Volkswagen	1766	Down 41.3%
Mercedes-Benz	1482	Down 52.5%
Honda	1408	Down 30.2%
Suzuki	1265	Down 5.6%
LDV	1114	Up 22.1%
Renault	1018	Up 248.6%
Volvo Car	854	Up 3.9%
GWM Haval	816	Down 6.0%
Audi	742	Down 37.2%
Lexus	705	Down 7.8%
Jeep	653	Up 16.2%
Porsche	571	Up 46.0%
Skoda	424	Down 49.2%
Mini	357	Up 28.9%
Ram	303	Down 0.7%
SsangYong	254	Up 31.6%
Peugeot	183	Up 56.4%
Chevrolet	154	Up 100.0%
Land Rover	138	Down 77.3%
Fiat	123	Up 13.9%
Genesis	75	Up 167.9%
Alfa Romeo	56	Up 80.6%
Maserati	44	No change
Jaguar	34	Down 57.5%
Citroen	33	Up 450.0%
Lotus	23	Up 130.0%
Bentley	22	Up 10.0%
Ferrari	17	Up 30.8%
Lamborghini	14	Up 27.3%
Chrysler	11	Down 31.3%
Aston Martin	10	Down 9.1%
Rolls-Royce	10	Up 233.3%
Alpine	1	–
McLaren	1	Down 92.3%

Models

The top 20 cars list comprised nine SUVs, seven commercials, and four passenger vehicles.

While the HiLux topping the charts will surprise few, the RAV4 bounded back into second thanks to freer supply (for one month at least, clearing the huge backorder list to some degree). The Triton had its best finish in a long time, even besting the Ranger.

Other notable results were the Prado with nearly 100 per cent growth, the MG ZS and MG3 topping their respective Small SUV and Light Car segments, the Mazda CX-30 cracking the top 10, and the Mitsubishi Outlander taking second spot on the Medium SUV charts.

Model	Sales	Change
Toyota HiLux	4803	Down 0.1%
Toyota RAV4	4454	Up 62.0%
Mitsubishi Triton	3811	Up 116.4%
Ford Ranger	3455	Up 19.1%
Toyota Prado	2778	Up 97.4%
MG ZS	1953	Up 50.0%
Isuzu D-Max	1930	Up 9.3%
Mazda CX-30	1819	Up 106.5%
Hyundai i30	1756	Down 20.5%
Mitsubishi Outlander	1673	Up 42.0%
Toyota Corolla	1671	Down 31.1%
Mazda BT-50	1628	Up 37.5%
Mazda CX-3	1465	Up 6.2%
MG 3	1437	Up 9.4%
Nissan Navara	1320	Up 52.6%
Kia Sportage	1296	Up 79.8%
Mazda CX-5	1265	Down 38.2%
Subaru Forester	1258	Up 24.7%
Toyota Camry	1206	Up 20.5%
Toyota HiAce	1192	Up 18.4%

Segments

We can also identify the most popular models in each vehicle segment.

Micro Cars: Kia Picanto (315), Mitsubishi Mirage (184), Fiat 500 (57)
Light Cars under $25,000: MG 3 (1437), Mazda 2 (387), Suzuki Baleno (379)
Light Cars over $25,000: Mini Hatch (165), Audi A1 (37), Citroen C3 (9)
Small Cars under $40,000: Hyundai i30 (1756), Toyota Corolla (1671), Kia Cerato (1188)
Small Cars over $40,000: BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe (132), BMW 1 Series (128), Mercedes-Benz A-Class (88)
Medium Cars under $60,000: Toyota Camry (1206), Skoda Octavia (114), Mazda 6 (98)
Medium Cars over $60,000: BMW 3 Series (291), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (103), Lexus ES (86)
Large Cars under $70,000: Kia Stinger (314), Skoda Superb (57)
Large Cars over $70,000: BMW 5 Series (49), Porsche Taycan (48), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (21)
Upper LargeCars: Chrysler 300 (11), Mercedes-Benz S-Class (8), BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe, BMW 7 Series, Porsche Panamera (all 5)
People Movers: Kia Carnival (454), Hyundai Staria (162), Honda Odyssey (132)
Sports Cars under $80,000: Ford Mustang (202), BMW 2 Series (81), Subaru BRZ (80)
Sports Cars over $80,000: BMW 4 Series (81), Chevrolet Corvette (28), Mercedes-Benz C-Class (25)
Sports Cars over $200,000: Porsche 911 (37), Ferrari range (17), Bentley two-door range (13)

Light SUVs: Mazda CX-3 (1465), Toyota Yaris Cross (1013), Hyundai Venue (714)
Small SUVs under $40,000: MG ZS (1953), Mazda CX-30 (1819), Kia Seltos (1030)
Small SUVs over $40,000: Volvo XC40 (493), BMW X1 (272), Audi Q3 (176)
Medium SUVs under $60,000: Toyota RAV4 (4454), Mitsubishi Outlander (1673), Kia Sportage (1296)
Medium SUVs over $60,000: Lexus NX (398), Mercedes-Benz GLB (320), Audi Q5 (308)
Large SUVs under $70,000: Toyota Prado (2778), Isuzu MU-X (855), Toyota Kluger (644)
Large SUVs over $70,000: BMW X5 (307), Mercedes-Benz GLE (151), Lexus RX (116)
Upper Large SUVs under $100,000: Nissan Patrol (670), Toyota LandCruiser Wagon (612),
Upper Large SUVs over $100,000: BMW X7 (78), Mercedes-Benz GLS (38), Audi Q8 (17)

Light Vans: Renault Kangoo (89), Volkswagen Caddy (69), Peugeot Partner (17)
Medium Vans: Toyota HiAce (941), LDV G10 (299), Hyundai Staria Load (205)
Large Vans: LDV Deliver 9 (139), Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (115), Renault Master (104)
Light Buses: Toyota HiAce (251), LDV Deliver 9 (14), Toyota Coaster (14)
4×2 Utes: Toyota HiLux (1226), Isuzu D-Max (354), Mitsubishi Triton (350)
4×4 Utes: Toyota HiLux (3577), Mitsubishi Triton (3461), Ford Ranger (3196)