Record sales result for evergreen Toyota ute as Ford Ranger supplies run dry and tough market conditions prevail
The Toyota HiLux notched up record sales of more than 6300 last month, providing a silver lining in an otherwise weak market that’s continuing to grapple with severe supply shortages and long customer waiting times.
Despite being seven years old, the HiLux’s 6324 sales in March was just short of the all-time monthly record of 6537 units it bagged in June 2020, and comes as its nearest rival, the Ford Ranger, falls back in the pecking order as stock dwindles with the changeover to the new-generation ute that reaches showrooms in June.
New orders are no longer being taken for the outgoing Ranger and pricing is yet to be announced for its successor, for which the Thai factory is currently being retooled, leaving HiLux all alone out in front and allowing other popular utes to capitalise.
These include the Mitsubishi Triton, which overtook Ranger for the second month in a row with 3808 sales in March compared to 2960 for the Ford, while the Isuzu D-MAX posted a healthy 2447 units amid production constraints, price increases and a stop-sale for its new 1.9-litre engine option.
For the industry overall, the 101,233 sales recorded across all brands and models in March was just 1.2 per cent ahead of the corresponding month last year, when Australia was enjoying a short-lived recovery from the 2020 downturn inflicted by the COVID-19 health crisis and the lockdowns that came with it.
Last year’s buoyant market had deflated by June, when vehicle supplies dried up and shipments stalled due to the global semi-conductor crisis and other issues caused by the pandemic.
After the first quarter of trading this year, the car industry is down 0.5 per cent compared to last year with 262,436 sales from January to March.
Compared to pre-COVID times, that’s the lowest Q1 result in a decade – even with Tesla’s figures now in the mix, which are included in the official data for the first time.
And these results show that the Tesla Model 3 electric car was the fifth-best-selling vehicle in Australia last month with 3097 sales.
“This is historically a unique time in which supply rather than demand is determining the size of the market,” said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief Tony Weber.
“This is due to manufacturers recovering from the pandemic-related shutdowns and the ongoing global shortage of micro-processing units.
“Consumer enquiries and demand for new cars remains strong. Manufacturers are working hard to
match this demand with supply.”
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With this in mind, Australia’s leading car brands are continuing to either struggle or tread water this year depending on production and shipping schedules.
Any significant gains being posted should also be weighed against each brand’s recovery last year, which similarly hinged on available supply.
But some things remain constant. Toyota is miles out in front of everyone else, posting 21,828 sales in March (+2.4%) and, beyond HiLux, held three other placegetters in the top 10 – RAV4 (4610, second), Prado (2230, ninth) and Corolla (1924, 10th).
Mazda was in its accustomed second position overall with 11,248 (+4.3%), helped by a resurgent CX-5 (3772, fourth), while Mitsubishi’s 9007 sales – almost half of them Triton utes – marked a 40.1 per cent increase over March 2020 and sees the triple-diamond brand entrenched in third position in the marketplace this year.
Hyundai and Kia are locked in a close battle for fourth and fifth, Hyundai resuming its more accustomed senior position last month (6516, -4.9%) compared to Kia (6051, +4.3%), but the ‘junior partner’ still has its nose in front for the year to date.
Without Ranger firing, or the related Everest (also in runout), Ford managed only 4245 sales last month (-29%) to hold down sixth position, just ahead of Chinese brand MG (3962, +20%), Isuzu Ute (3306, -4.9%), Nissan (3168, -30.5%) and Volkswagen (2832, -15.7%).
As you can see, there’s a lot of double-digit negative results among this cohort of major brands, and the trend continues beyond the top 10 to Mercedes-Benz (2397, -16.7%), which last month wrestled back luxury car market leadership from BMW (1824, -27.8%), and Subaru in 12th position overall (2279, -45.9%).
Other brands in a similar predicament include Honda (1508, -36.5%), Audi (1185, -32,9%), Skoda (716, -30.6%) and, after long periods of solid growth, GWM (907, -11.2%).
In the key market categories, SUVs fell 1.6 per cent last month but still dominated proceedings, the 50,893 total volume accounting for one in two new vehicle sales.
Light commercials (24,194, +4.0%) and passenger cars (21,999, +3.0%) were both in positive territory, but the latter is down 9.7 per cent for the year to date.
What appears to be relatively stable supply out of Thailand, where most of Australia’s utes are built, is clearly assisting the LCV market, which is up 6.8 per cent this year.
Utes are the top-selling vehicles overall this year with 56,618 sales, ahead of mid-size SUVs (49,280), small SUVs (35,263) and large SUVs (32,419).
Including Tesla, 6752 electric car sales have been recorded in Australia this year, compared to 1047 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 20,585 regular hybrid cars.
Tesla accounts for the vast majority of EV sales (4417), while Polestar is also now filtering into the sales charts, opening its account with 115 customer deliveries of the new Polestar 2.
In contrast to the alternative-fuel segments, more than 90,000 diesel-powered cars and 135,500 with a conventional petrol engine have been sold across the first quarter of this year.
Top 10 brands (2022 year to date):Toyota – 58,047Mazda – 29,835Mitsubishi – 23,353Kia – 17,452Hyundai – 17,293Ford – 13,383MG – 11,267Isuzu Ute – 8806Nissan – 8322
Subaru – 8152
Top 10 vehicles (March 2022):Toyota HiLux – 6324Toyota RAV4 – 4610Mitsubishi Triton – 3808Mazda CX-5 – 3772Tesla Model 3 – 3097Ford Ranger – 2960Hyundai i30 – 2455Isuzu D-MAX – 2447Toyota Prado – 2230
Toyota Corolla – 1924
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Keyword: VFACTS March: Toyota HiLux lords over weak market