Australia February 2022: First market uptick in 5 months (+1.6%), Mitsubishi Triton, MG ZS and Mazda CX-30 break records

Mitsubishi sales are up 26% year-on-year in February, thanks partly to an influx of Tritons.

7/03 update: Now with Top 270 All-models ranking.

For the first time since last September, new vehicle sales in Australia return to positive territory at +1.6% year-on-year in February to 85,340 units despite continuing stock shortages triggered by the microchip crisis. This is the best February result since 2019. The year-to-date tally stands at 161,203 after two months, down 1.5% on the same period in 2021. Private buyers are the leading force in the market this month, up 7.9% to 46,867 units and 54.9% share vs. 51.7% a year ago and 46.7% two years ago whereas business fleets are down 6.9% to 28,736 and 33.7% share vs. 36.7% in 2021 and 40.4% in 2020. Rental sales are down -3.3% to 4,363 and government fleets are unchanged at 2,363. SUV sales are up 5.4% to 44,935 and 52.7% share vs. 50.8% a year ago and 49.2% in February 2020, light commercials (pickups and vans) step up 12.3% to 21,709 units and 25.4% share vs. 23% in 2021 and 19.4% in 2020, while passenger cars continue their fall at -18.3% to 15,685 units and 18.4% share vs. 22.8% in 2021 and 28.3% in 2020. Heavy commercials account for 3.5% of the market with 3,011 sales.

Looking at sales by State and Territory, New South Wales is down -3.5% to 26,360, Victoria up 5.5% to 22,177, Queensland up 3.8% to 18,962, Western Australia down -1.7% to 8,409, South Australia up 8.9% to 5,810, Tasmania up 16.6% to 1,561, Australian Capital Territory down -2.6% to 1,356 and Northern Territory down -5.6% to 705. The sourcing countries of cars sold in Australia this month are Japan at 31,138 units (+5.8%), Thailand at 21,086 (+20.8%), South Korea at 12,237 (-0.6%), China at 6,357 (+26.8%), the U.S. at 2,560 (+19.3%) and Germany at 2,342 (-30.5%).

Over in the brands ranking, Toyota (+13.7%) vastly outraces the market to reach an outstanding 24.5% share, its third best ever below April 2020 (26.5%) and August 2021 (24.6%) and equal with December 2020 (24.5%). Mazda (+5.5%) continues on its good form at 10.3% share while Mitsubishi (+26%) benefits from improved supply to surge ahead but remains in third place. Kia (+0.2%) once again outsells sister brand Hyundai (-9.6%) and now has a 624-unit advantage over the first two months of the year. Ford (-2.2%) is stuck in 5th place just as MG (+24.9%) continues to shine, staying at a record 7th place for the fourth straight month. Subaru (+19.4%) and Isuzu Ute (+11%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10 whereas Nissan (-26.3%) disappoints. Further down, notice remarkable improvements by Renault (+248.6%), Chevrolet (+100%), Peugeot (+56.4%), Porsche (+46%), Ssangyong (+31.6%), Mini (+28.9%), LDV (+22.1%) and Jeep (+16.1%) while among brands with 0.1% share and under Citroen (+450%), Rolls Royce (+233.3%), Genesis (+167.9%), Lotus (+130%), Alfa Romeo (+80.6%), Ferrari (+30.8%) and Lamborghini (+27.3%) stand out.

Model-wise, the Toyota Hilux (-0.1%) hits its highest share in exactly a year at 5.6% while thanks to improved supply the Toyota RAV4 (+62%) rallies back up 10 spots on January to #2 and 5.2% share, its highest since August 2020. Also helped by unlocked supply, the Mitsubishi Triton (+116.4%) overtakes the Ford Ranger (+19.1%) for the first time for this generation of the model to round out the podium with a record 4.5% share (previous best 3.7% in November 2019). The Toyota Prado (+97.4%) follows with another exceptional year-on-year uptick. After staying 2 months at a record #8, the MG ZS (+50%) improves this benchmark to #6 this month, distancing the Isuzu D-Max (+9.3%), while the Mazda CX-30 (+106.5%) breaks into the Australian Top 10 for the first time ever. The Hyundai i30 (-20.5%) is the only passenger car in the Top 10 at #9, never before has there been so few in the Top 10. The Mitsubishi Outlander (+42%) closes out the Top 10 in stellar fashion, just as the Toyota Yaris Cross (+55.1%) achieves its first stint inside the Top 25 at #24.

Previous month: Australia January 2021: Market down -4.8%, MG ZS and MG3 in Top 10, Mazda breaks share record

One year ago: Australia February 2021: MG cracks Top 10, outsells Volkswagen in market up 5.1%

Full February 2022 Top 45 All-brands and Top 270 All-models below.