Industry insights: VFACTS February 2022 summary
3 March 2022
National scene
- There were 85,340 vehicles sold in February 2022 – a rise of 1,363 or 1.6 per cent over February 2021. While this is only a small increase, it ends the trend of negative growth over the past four months, which is encouraging
- Year-to-date, we are trailing by 2,440 vehicles over the same time last year
- Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland all recorded sales growth in February 2022, with the remaining states/territories recording a sales decrease compared to February 2021
- Global supply chains are still being affected by the pandemic, with shortages of microprocessors and shipping delays continuing to impact the delivery of new vehicles and parts into Australia.
Sales by vehicle category and type
| Vehicle segment |
February 2022 sales |
% change over February 2021 |
| Passenger |
15,685 |
-18.3 |
| SUV |
44,935 |
+5.4 |
| Light commercial |
21,709 |
+12.3 |
| Heavy commercial |
3,011 |
+7.3 |
- Sales of micro, light, small vehicles and people movers – which had been growing over the past months – fell during February 2022
- All fuel types experienced increased sales in February 2022, except for petrol vehicles which declined by 11.2 per cent. Diesel sales increased by 11.6 per cent, while electric vehicles grew from 262 sales in February last year to 600 in February this year. Notably, this figure does not include sales of Tesla vehicles
- Hybrid vehicle sales rose from 5,016 in February 2021 to 8,143 sales in February 2022, a 62.3 per cent growth. PHEV sales also increased from 185 to 305 (up 64.9 per cent) over the same period.
Notable brand improvers:
-
Renault – up from 292 sales in February 2021 to 1,018 in February 2022
-
MG – up from 3,017 to 3,767
-
Peugeot – up from 117 to 183
-
Chevrolet – up from 77 to 154
-
Citroen – up from six to 33
-
Genesis – up from 28 to 75
-
Lotus – up from 10 to 23.
Notable sales movers:
-
Kia Stinger – rose from 191 sales in February 2021 to 314 in February 2022
-
Subaru BRZ – up from 47 to 80
-
BMW Z4 – up from 7 to 19
-
Porsche 911 – up from 23 to 37
-
Rolls-Royce Cullinan – up from one to four.
Economic trends
Despite the continuing impacts of the pandemic on the economy and the uncertainty created by the conflict in the Ukraine, the latest suite of economic data paints a more positive outlook for the months ahead. Loans for the purchase of motor vehicles grew by 0.9 per cent in February 2022 to $1.185 billion, which is the highest level since May 2021. GDP also grew by 3.4 per cent in the December Quarter 2021, after falling by 1.9 per cent in September 2021 due to a number of state lockdowns – which have now ended.
Households are also spending more, with the household saving-to-income ratio falling from 19.8 per cent to 13.6 per cent. Households are also wealthier than before the pandemic, and the labour market remains resilient with an unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent, the lowest since August 2008. While inflationary pressures continue to build, particularly with the price of crude oil, interest rates continue to be low for the time being. These trends should support household budgets over the short-term and, hopefully, better new car sales results.
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