VFACTS: New Car Sales Insights October 2021

Read our monthly update on VFACTS new car sales results.



New Car Sales October 2021

  • October 2021 saw a total figure of 74,650 new car sales for Australia as reported by VFACTS
  • Figures show new car sales were down 8% in October 2021 versus October 2020
  • NSW & ACT were down 12% & 22% compared to October 2020, likely owing to lockdowns
  • Victoria was the only state to see an increase compared to October 2020, up 6% versus October 2020 and up 33% overall YoY




New Car Sales Trends

The top 5 models with the greatest increases so far in 2021 are:

  • MG ZS (+11,516 units)
  • Isuzu Ute D-Max 4X4 (+8,855 units)
  • Ford Ranger 4X4 (+8,106 units)
  • Toyota Hilux 4X4 (+7,779 units)
  • Toyota Yaris Cross (+6,697 units)

The bottom 5 models with the greatest decreases so far in 2021 are:

  • Volkswagen Golf (-7,211 units)
  • Honda Civic (-3,174 units)
  • Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class (-2,522 units)
  • Honda CR-V (-2,396 units)
  • Audi A3 (-2,086 units)

The top segment increases so far in 2021 compared to 2020 are:

  • SUV Light (+102%)
  • Micro (+77%)
  • People Movers < $60K (+45%)
  • Vans/CC 2.5-3.5t (+41%)
  • SUV Small < $40K (+39%)

Conversely, some of the largest decreases are:

  • Large < $70K (-32%)
  • Vans/CC <= 2.5t (-28%)
  • Upper Large < $100K (-23%)
  • Light Buses => 20 Seats (-23%)
  • Small > $40K (-23%)

Some other highlights so far:

  • Toyota models have slightly loosened their grip on the market with other models from Isuzu and Mazda making some ground
  • Chinese brand MG is making headwinds, with its ZS, MG3 and HS models seeing substantial increase in 2021
  • Chinese brand GWM (formerly Great Wall) has also sold well with its 4×4 Ute moving 5,693 units so far this year
  • Passenger vehicles continue to see the slowest recovery in sales in 2021 (+5%), particularly in small (-5%), medium (-2%) and upper large segments (-11%)
  • The rental market has seen strong growth, up 21,973 units (+88%) compared to 2020
  • Private sales (+19% YoY) now make up more than 50% of all sales in the market due to dealers gaining higher margins on these types of sales





Sales by Import Country

  • Sales of imported vehicles from Japan continue to rebound significantly in 2021, seeing an increase of 42,257 units compared to 2020
  • Sales of imported vehicles from China continue to skyrocket in 2021 with an increase of 33,226 compared to 2020
  • Sales of imported vehicles from Germany saw the largest decline so far, down 15,344 units




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Tanim Ahmed

By Tanim Ahmed, Head of Product at Datium Insights

Tanim is a Macquarie University alumni with degrees in Finance and Economics. He has spent a decade in the Leasing and Finance industry, specializing in Residual Value risk.

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