New vehicle sales closed out the year on a high, with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) 'VFACTS' report revealing an increase of 12.1% or 9,518 vehicles sold in December from November results.

The number of new vehicles sold in 2022 surpassed the million-mark despite many supply chain hurdles, recording a total of 1,081,429 sales compared to the 1,049,831 sold in 2021.  

FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the pathway through COVID recovery, microprocessor shortages and bottlenecks due to global shipping issues had created great challenges for car makers and their dealer networks in 2022. 

“While 2022 has been a year of resilience and recovery, 2023 is shaping up as one of the most significant in recent history, particularly in terms of the development of policies that set the direction for the future decarbonisation of the light vehicle fleet,” Mr Weber said. 

Toyota closed out the year with the crown as the most popular car brand, accounting for 21.4% of total new car sales thanks largely to Australia’s affinity with the Toyota Hi-Lux, having sold 64,391 in the year past. 

New South Wales closed out the year as the state peddling the largest number of new car sales with 338,012 vehicles sold, followed by Victoria with 287,314 and Queensland with 235,591. 

Top 10 most popular cars in 2022

  1. Toyota Hilux - 64,391 sales
  2. Ford Ranger - 47,479
  3. Toyota Rav 4 - 34,845
  4. Mitsubishi Triton - 27,436
  5. Mazda CX-5 - 27,062
  6. Toyota Corolla - 25,284
  7. Toyota Landcruiser (inc Prado) - 24,542
  8. Isuzu D-Max Ute - 24,336
  9. MG ZS - 22,466
  10. Hyundai i30 - 21,166

Overall SUVs and light commercial vehicles (utes) made up 76.8% of sales, and just two of the top 10 models were passenger cars (the Corolla and i30).

Hybrid sales outpace electric vehicles in 2022

The VFACTS report for December 2022 revealed throughout the year the sales of hybrid cars outpaced electric by more than double, with hybrid tallying 81,786 sales for the year in comparison to the 33,410 electric vehicles sold. 

Despite this, electric vehicles have come along in leaps and bounds in 2022, with sales increasing 549% from 2021’s figures of 5,149 to account for 3.1% of the total new car market. 

In the hybrid vehicle market, Toyota once more took out top spot, accounting for nine in 10 hybrid car sales in 2022. 

The electric car market told a different story, with Tesla selling 10,877 Model 3s throughout 2022 to capture 44.2% of the share of new electric cars sold.

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