A total 81,065 vehicles sold in April – a 12.2% decrease on the same month in 2021 (11,282 vehicles down on April last year’s 92,347), new vehicle sales figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reveal.
This was the result of global issues which are still impacting new car production and shipping, says FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.
“We know this is not a reflection on the demand for new vehicles in the marketplace,” he explains.
“This is a reflection on the global automotive industry’s ability to supply vehicles to not only the Australian market, but all markets throughout the world.
“Automotive manufacturers continue to suffer from a shortage of microprocessor units which is impacting their ability to ramp up production to pre-pandemic levels. COVID-19 continues to impact manufacturing and supply, particularly where factories have been forced to close and shipping operations are yet to fully recover. This is being reflected in the extended delivery times for new vehicles.”
Sales were down in every state and territory in April.
A total 1201 vehicles were sold in the Australian Capital Territory – representing a 14.9% decrease on April 2021, while sales in New South Wales were down 12.7% (25,432), the Northern Territory 4.8% (848), Queensland 11.2% (17,424), South Australia 6.2% (5459), Tasmania 7.9% (1466), Victoria 11% (21,339), and Western Australia 20.4% (7896).
Toyota led the market with 17,956 vehicles sold, 10,578 more than second-placed Mazda (7378), Mitsubishi third (6463), Kia fourth (6180) and Hyundai fifth (5552).
The Toyota Hilux was the highest selling model (4493), the Ford Ranger second (3581), Toyota’s RAV4 third (3373), Mazda’s CX-5 fourth (2701) and Isuzu Ute’s D-Max fifth (2374).
April 2022 had 23 selling days compared with 23.6 in April 2021, resulting in a decrease of 388.4 vehicle sales per day.
The passenger vehicle market is down by 2620 vehicle sales (minus 14.5%) over the same month last year, the sports utility market is down by 6806 (minus 13.8%), the light commercial market is down by 2078 sales (minus 9.6%) and the heavy commercial vehicle market is up by 222 vehicle sales (6.5%) versus April 2021.
April’s new vehicle sales brings the year-to-date total to 343,501.
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