MID-SIZE UTES REMAIN POPULAR AMID SALES SLUMP

NEW car sales in Australia continue to suffer from stock limitations and production delays, with local distributors selling everything they can get in to the country. The market is down 12.2 per cent on what it was at the height of the pandemic in April last year, and there’s no end in sight to the delays.

“Automotive manufacturers continue to suffer from a shortage of microprocessor units, which is impacting their ability to ramp up production to pre-pandemic levels,” said FCAI chief executive, Tony Weber.

“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.”

It will be interesting to see if the rise in interest rates does much to slow demand for new cars and allows the dealers to catch up on order backlogs.

Mid-size utes continue to be the most in-demand and best-selling new cars in Australia, with the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger top-sellers overall and the Isuzu D-MAX in fifth place. Third and fourth spots were filled by the RAV4 and CX-5 SUVS. The top two slots are reflected in the 4x4 sales charts, with Hilux and Ranger continuing to dominate.

Sales of the popular Ford continue to drop, as stock of the current model runs out in anticipation of the next-gen Ranger that’ll be on sale in June.

The Blue Oval crew will be hoping there are no supply issues with the new ute when it gets here; although, we’re already hearing from dealers that waiting lists for the V6 diesel Ranger are already blowing out to 12 months.

Ford will be looking at a mammoth second half of the year with the Ranger Raptor following the regular Ranger to showrooms, and then the all-new Everest Wagon shortly after that.

Mitsubishi will be happy to see its supply problems behind them as the brand’s Triton 4x4 ute and Pajero Sport wagon have enjoyed strong sales in the last two months. Notably, the Mitsubishis are outselling the D-MAX and MU-X models, which have been their closest sales competitor in recent times. This will be an interesting duel to watch play out over the coming months.