Supply issues skew sales figures
Australians bought 228,671 utes in 2022, representing 22 percent of the total new car market, as new models and fresh upgrades became the catalyst for increased buyer demand.
Despite headwinds in supply and logistics, there were 28 ute models from 14 brands available in Australia last year.
Surprisingly, despite the increased frequency of ute sightings on the nation’s roads, this statistic does not represent a lot of change from a decade ago when buyers had their pick of 29 models from 12 brands.
New players throughout the past five years were predominantly Chinese – LDV and GWM – with contributions from South Korea’s Ssangyong and the two major US brands, Chevrolet and Ram.
Added to that were remanufactured utes including the Toyota Tundra and Ford F-trucks, neither of which are listed in VFACTS delivery data.
Sales of the main players in Australia’s 4x2 and 4x4 ute segments have retained much of their market share during the past decade, with production and supply chain issues eroding gains across the board in 2021 and 2022.
In addition, shipping holdups at Australian ports, triggered by more intense contamination and quarantine procedures by authorities, have squeezed delivery to ports and then to dealerships and ultimately, customers.
There has also been unusual sales activity in some months that can also be attributed to the arrival of ships.
While all brands are affected by the various problems, on paper at least, these issues hit Nissan and Mitsubishi particularly hard.
Sales of Mitsubishi Triton 4x4 variants were down a big 59.6 percent in the first month of this year compared with January 2022, while Nissan Navara 4x4 sales fared a fraction worse with a 59.8 percent plunge.
However, a Nissan spokesperson told Goauto Navara order books remained strong.
Delays have made a huge dent in Nissan’s performance. Navara 4x4 sales were only 410 units in January, down 59.8 percent, while 4x2 models found only 19 buyers, down 88.1 percent.
From these figures it is easy to surmise there is weak demand for 4x2 models, although such products are predominantly fleet territory and aside from production hold-ups, these variants are subject to buying programs from fleet organisations.
Mitsubishi was similarly affected and for the same reasons. The Triton 4x4 had 1051 buyers in January, down 59.6 percent on the same month in 2022, while the 4x2 variant had 202 sales, down 25.7 percent.
By contrast, Toyota Hilux sales were up 18.5 percent in January with 3044 deliveries for the 4x4, while the 4x2 version had a 6.4 percent increase to 1087 sales.
The Ford Ranger did even better, with 4x4 variants amassing 4250 sales in the first month of 2023 – up 42.3 percent – and the 4x2 model had 499 buyers that represented a 92.7 percent increase.
Ford Australia spokesman Ben Nightingale said delays were mainly caused by the shortage of semiconductors, affecting the higher-specified, private-market targeted 4x4 models.
He said Ford, like its rivals, was subjected to shipping delays and port bottlenecks that constricted supply to dealers and explained Ford was fortunate to have stocks of the previousgeneration Ranger available to buyers, which maintained high sales for dealers in the transition to the new model.
Isuzu Ute sales are also strong, with the D-max 4x4 up 12.6 percent, or 1637 sales in January, while the 4x2 sales went backwards by 53.3 percent to 206 units, partially on fleet buying programs but also on production.
Isuzu Ute Australia director of sales Koichiro Yoshida said reduced sales numbers for D-max 4x2 models yearto-date compared with 2022 was ‘a direct reflection of what models are being produced at any one time and is not a reflection on demand’.
“We would expect this to balance out through the year,” he said.
Mazda’s BT-50, built by Isuzu and heavily based on the D-max, had similarly strong 4x4 sales, up 11.7 percent, while 4x2 sales were down on the previous January by 13.7 percent to 151 units for the month.
GWM, which markets its ute as the Cannon, had an excellent January with solid demand and a 212.7 percent increase in the month’s sales compared with the previous year, finding 716 buyers for the 4x4.
In line with the cyclical 4x2 market, GWM also sold only 10 units of this drivetrain layout in January, down 68.8 percent on 2022.
Improved sales were also seen by Volkswagen with its Amarok – now only available as a 4x4 – up 18.8 percent with 291 sales; and Ssangyong’s Musso, again, only 4x4, up 121.6 percent, finding 308 buyers.