Some of our best known car brands are struggling as buyers turn to Chinese imports and electric vehicles. Here’s what’s hot and what’s not in the market.
There’s been a dramatic shift in Australian car buying habits in the past year or two.
Some of our best known brands are struggling to attract buyers, while a host of new names are making their mark.
Car makers say supply issues are still affecting their sales. They argue the demand is still there, but they can’t deliver enough cars.
Here’s what was hot and what was not in the new-car market last month.
Number three on the charts: Tesla’s Model 3 is proving a hit with buyers. Picture: David McCowen.
HOT
Tesla
Tesla deliveries tended to come in bursts last year. One month they’d shift a ton of cars and the next they wouldn’t.
But in the past few months, the electric vehicle pioneer has been on a roll.
Tesla sold almost 7000 vehicles in the first two months of this year. To put that in perspective, the brand sold roughly 12,000 cars in 2021.
At the end of last year, the Model Y SUV was leading the charge, but this month it’s the Model 3 sedan.
It was the third-best selling vehicle in the country, behind only the Toyota HiLux and the Ford Ranger.
Setting aside utes and SUVs, Tesla was the top-selling passenger car manufacturer in February.
It was the ninth-best selling brand last month, eclipsing household names including Subaru, Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan.
MG has become one of the country’s top-selling brands. Picture: Supplied.
Chinese cars
Most of the mainstream brands have used Covid-related supply issues to push up the price of their cars, which has left the door open for value-for-money alternatives from China.
The trend is a repeat of the rise of Korean cars, which stole market share from the dominant Japanese brands on the back of great value and long warranties.
Now the Koreans are in the firing line. Chinese-sourced cars outsold Korean imports last month, continuing a four-month trend.
Leading the way is MG, which was the seventh-best selling brand last month.
China’s BYD Atto 3 also had a strong month with 770, ranking just behind the Tesla Model Y.
But snapping at its heels is Great Wall Motors and its Haval sub-brand. Its sales were up and eye-watering 188 per cent last month.
Ford’s Ranger was the top-selling vehicle last month. Picture: Thomas Wielecki.
Ford
The American giant has taken a leaf out of Tesla’s playbook, with a limited product line-up that essentially consists of just two dominant vehicles; the Ford Ranger ute and the Everest off-road wagon, which is spun off the same vehicle platform.
The Blue Oval was our third favourite brand last month and the Ranger toppled the HiLux as the best-selling vehicle.
Ranger and Everest made up 87 per cent of the brand’s sales in February.
Toyota still dominates the Australian new-car market, but sales were down last month. Picture: Supplied.
NOT
Toyota
You could hardly call Toyota a loser in the February sales race – the brand is still number one by a significant margin – but there are signs that supply issues are beginning to put a dent in its crown.
The RAV4, which has waiting lists stretching beyond a year, was outsold in February by the Mazda CX-5 and the Mitsubishi Outlander, while the HiLux now trails the Ranger by a significant margin in the lucrative 4WD ute market.
Corolla sales are down by a quarter over the same month last year, while Camry sales were down by two-thirds.
The brand has also missed the start on the EV boom. EV sales in February were almost ten times what they were in the same month last year – without a Toyota in sight.
Strong sales of the Outlander helped offset declines for other Mitsubishis. Picture: Supplied.
Mitsubishi
The Japanese brand had a good year in 2022, but February was a bust, with sales slumping by close to 30 per cent.
The usual caveats apply with regards to supply issues but concerns remain around its ageing line-up.
Sales of its Triton ute tanked, although the new Outlander appears to be picking up momentum.
Nissan’s model line-up has been revamped but it’s yet to translate into sales. Picture: Supplied.
Nissan
It’s a similar story with Mitsubishi’s alliance partner, Nissan, which last year suffered from having too many cars that were too long in the tooth.
This year was supposed to be a bright new dawn, as all-new versions of the X-Trail, Qashqai and Pathfinder SUVs arrived in showrooms.
But the new arrivals have yet to spark a revival, as sales dropped almost 9 per cent on February 2022.
Its only EV, the Nissan Leaf, attracted just 57 buyers last month.
Keyword: Electric vehicles and Chinese cars enjoying a sales boom