What were the top 10 best-selling cars in Australia during 2021? Thanks to the new vehicle registration figures handed out by the FCAI today, in the form of December 2021 VFACTS, the answers are now confirmed. We will be putting together our usual big report soon covering more market segments.
During 2021, Australian consumers snapped up 1,049,831 new vehicles. That’s up 14.5 per cent on 2020 full-year figures. Sales for December 2021 specifically topped 78,402 units, which is down 18 per cent on last December.
Once again, and for the 25th year in Australia, Toyota was the favourite new car brand overall. It contributed 223,642 sales to the industry’s annual tally, which is up 9.2 per cent. Its best-selling model was the HiLux, which was also the best-selling vehicle of the year.
In terms of the top 10 best-selling brands, we see the top four are in the same positions as the year prior. Kia overtakes Mitsubishi for fifth spot, and Nissan leapfrogs VW for seventh place. MG also jumps into the top 10 for the first time. See below for the full list, with the percentage increase over 2020 full-year figures in brackets:
- Toyota: 223,642 (+9.2% YTD)
- Mazda: 101,119 (+18.1%)
- Hyundai: 72,872 (+12.4%)
- Ford: 71,380 (+19.8%)
- Kia: 67,964 (+21.2%)
- Mitsubishi: 67,732 (+16.1%)
- Nissan: 41,263 (+7.7%)
- Volkswagen: 40,770 (+3.8%)
- MG: 39,025 (+155.9%)
- Subaru: 37,015 (+17.5%)
Moving into the best-selling models, the HiLux and then the Ford Ranger maintain the top positions from the year prior. The Toyota RAV4 remains in third as well, followed by the Corolla, while the Isuzu D-Max slots into sixth spot for the first time and the MG ZS rounds out the top 10. See below for the top 10 best-selling new vehicles in Australia during all of 2021:
- Toyota HiLux: 52,801 (up from 45,176 in 2020)
- Ford Ranger: 50,279 (up from 40,973)
- Toyota RAV4: 35,751 (down from 38,537)
- Toyota Corolla: 28,768 (up from 25,882)
- Hyundai i30: 25,575 (up from 20,734)
- Isuzu D-Max: 25,117 (up from 15,062)
- Mazda CX-5: 24,968 (up from 21,979)
- Toyota Prado: 21,299 (up from 18,034)
- Mitsubishi Triton: 19,232 (up from 18,136)
- MG ZS: 18,423 (up from 5494)
Don’t forget to stay tuned for our full December 2021 VFACTS report covering not just 2021 figures but also December’s performance. Speaking about the industry sales in 2021 in an FCAI statement, FCAI CEO Tony Weber said:
“Despite the pandemic restricting access to showrooms in 2021, Australian consumers found ways to purchase new vehicles and did so in solid numbers. The global shortage of microprocessors, compounded by the pandemic, had an impact on the number of cars sold throughout Australia. Automotive manufacturers are continuing to work to strengthen supply chains in 2022.”
