According to its January report, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), which represents Australian automotive distributors, new-vehicle sales figures of 75,863 units signaled a 4.8% decrease from January 2021 numbers.

The report covers sales for new passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles in Australia.

“The microprocessor shortage and the pandemic’s impact on supply chains continues into 2022. This is an issue impacting markets all over the globe. Despite this, consumer interest, inquiry, and the fundamental demand for new cars in Australia remains strong,” according to FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber.

“We are also experiencing bottlenecks in having vehicles processed from some Australian ports,” Weber added.

The FCAI report detailed 2022 January sales figures over January 2021 by category:

• Passenger vehicles, decreased by 2,853 vehicle sales (-15.3%)

• Sports utility, is down by 1,947 vehicle sales (-4.7%)

•  Light commercial, increased by 774 vehicle sales (4.4%)

• Heavy commercial, up by 223 vehicle sales (10.9%)

Toyota was the market leader in January 2022 with 15,333 vehicles sold. Mazda followed with 9,805. Mitsubishi took third place with 6,533. Fourth place was taken by KIA with 5,520 and Hyundai came in fifth with 5,128. Toyota led Mazda with a margin of 5,528 vehicle sales and 7.3 market share points.

Australia’s best-selling models in January were:

1. Toyota HiLux – 3,591

2. Ford Ranger – 3,245

3. Mazda CX-5 – 3,213

4. Mitsubishi Triton – 2,876

5. Toyota Prado – 2,566