FCAI Releases December & 2020 Vehicle Sales Figures.

January 6th, 2021

Comments Feed

Australia’s FCAI, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, has provided the final vehicle sales figures for 2020 and for December of 2020.

Covid-19’s effects were obvious, as the final figure for 2020 was 916,968, down from 2019’s 1,062,867. That’s a reduction of 13.7%. However, December 2020 saw an increase from December of 2019, with 95,652 sales. That’s up by 13.5% with 84,239 sold in December 2019. It rolls on from the previous month, with 95,205 and that’s up by 12.4% from November 2019.

FCAI chief executive, Tony Weber, said signs of the recovery of the new vehicle market were welcomed by automotive brands. “COVID-19 has brought a health crisis and a corresponding economic crisis to the world during 2020. And along with the rest of Australia, automotive brands and their dealer networks have found the last twelve months an extremely challenging period. The automotive industry in Australia accounts for more than 60,000 employees, with over 4,000 dealerships across the country. The contribution made by these businesses is critically important to the economic wellbeing of communities across Australia. It is therefore with great relief that the industry, along with the general economy, is finally noting some positive signs within the market.”

As has been the norm for the past few years, SUVs and utility vehicles made up the lion’s share of the sales. For 2020, SUVs finished with 49.6% of the market, up from 45.5% of overall market share from 2019, with sales figures of 454,701 in 2020. That’s still down by 5.9% from 2019.

Toyota continued its number one positioning, with 204,801 vehicles sold and resulting in 22.3 market share for 2020. Mazda took second, with 9.3% and 85,640 sales. Hyundai took the bronze with 64,807 and 7.1%. Ford was nipping at their heels with 59,601 sales and and 6.5%, followed by Mitsubishi on 6.4% and 58,335 sales.

Light Commercial Vehicles finished with 22.4% market share in 2020, with 205,597 and down by 8.9% on 2019. Passenger vehicles had a 24.2% market share, with 222,103, and down by 29.7% in total from 2019.

It’s interesting to note that seven of the top ten vehicles for the year were either SUVs or LCVs. Toyota’s HiLux moved 45,176 units, Ford Ranger was a close second with 40,973 sales, whilst Toyota RAV4 had 38,537 sales. Toyota’s Corolla finished on 25,882 sales and their Landcruiser rolled out 25,142 sales.

Mazda CX-5 saw 2020 out with 21,979 sales, whilst Hyundai’s i30 finished with 20,734 sales. Mitsubishi’s Triton had 18,136 sales, just ahead of the Toyota Prado with 18,034 sales and Kia Cerato’s 17,559 sales.

In an overall market and sales figures context, the pickup/cab chassis market had 32,783 units in the 4×2 sector, 168,869 units in the 4×4 for 2020, down by 9.5% from 2019. PHEV SUVs had a small increase both for December and the year, with a monthly figure of 183, up from 110 the year before, and 1,282 for the year, up from 1,178 for 2019. Hybrid SUVs saw a bigger jump, with December 2020 seeing 3,470 from 1,333 for December 2019, and 34,933 for the year, up from 9,732 for 2019.

Hybrid and PHEV passenger cars also saw small increases, with fully electric cars moving 66 in December 2020, up by just six from the same month of 2019. The year’s figures had 939, up from 2019’s 831.