We’ll top one million

12 November 2021

Vehicle sales continue to gain traction

Recent VFACTS results published by FCAI highlight some interesting vehicle sales trends.

There were 74,650 new vehicles sold in October 2021, a drop of 8.1 percent or 6,570 fewer vehicles over October 2020.

Year-to-date sales, however, are 22.7 percent ahead of the same time last year, but 0.4 percent below pre-COVID levels seen in October 2019.

We can attribute the sales drop in October to ongoing international supply chain disruptions in vehicle production, including critical shortages of key components, such as microprocessors/semi-conductors.

There are reports of automotive manufacturers stockpiling microprocessor chips and allocating them to higher profit vehicles, exacerbating wait times for other models.

Sales of traditional petrol, diesel, and hybrid vehicles fell by 9.0, 9.1 and 23.7 percent in October, while electric and plug-in-hybrid electric continued their strong growth trends stimulated by price subsidies and other incentives offered by states and territories. 461 electric vehicles sold in October 2021 compared to 186 in October 2020 (excluding Tesla, which does not disclose sales).

Heavy commercial vehicles also performed well, with sales growing by 31.3 percent or 957 vehicles compared to October 2020.

The market is still on track to surpass one million new vehicle sales by year’s end, which is a reasonable result given the supply constraints, lengthy lockdowns and challenging economic conditions experienced by NSW and Victoria.

Victoria was the only state which recorded new vehicle sales growth in October 2021 (up 6.3 percent).

However, Victorian sales are still 23.8 percent lower than pre-COVID levels seen in October 2019.

Words: VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym.

Share your thoughts! E: ceo@vacc.com.au. As featured in the Herald Sun 12 November 2021.