As a result of a supply shortage, new automobile sales in Australia fell in October.
Despite large portions of the country being released from Covid-19-induced lockdown, just 74,650 new cars were sold in October, a decline of more than 8% from the same month in 2020.
The drop in sales is due to a supply shortage caused by a lack of semiconductors, a critical component in modern vehicles.
After a disastrous year in 2020, the new car market is set to surpass one million sales in 2021 for the first time since 2009.
According to Tony Weber, the chairman of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the problem isn’t just a problem in Australia but affects the whole world.
Toyota was once again the best-selling manufacturer in the country, but due to foreign manufacturing line shutdowns, it sold 4000 fewer vehicles in October this year than in October 2020.
Some of Toyota’s most popular cars, such as the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and the LandCruiser 70-Series, have 10-month waitlists, while others have six-month waitlists.
In October, Mazda suffered a major setback, selling only 5181 vehicles, a decrease of almost 2000 units from the previous year.
It also meant that the Japanese company was no longer the second best-selling brand in Australia for the first time in a long time.
Hyundai (6115) won this title because it was one of the few brands to have positive growth in the previous month.
With 4135 units sold, Ford’s Ranger ute was the best-selling vehicle in the country. The Toyota HiLux (3961) and Toyota LandCruiser 4WD were next in line (2031).
SUVs remain popular, with Australians accounting for more than 47% of purchases in October.
The Toyota RAV4 (1670), Hyundai Tucson (1532), Mitsubishi ASX (1464), and Nissan X-Trail were the top-selling vehicles.
MG, a Chinese manufacturer, appears to have no supply concerns since sales increased by 86% in October.
Electric car sales went up by over 150% in October.
