Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says that there were 11,840 sales of new vehicles for the month of December 2022, making it the second strongest month of December on record. December registrations were down 4.3% (706 units) on the same month in 2021.
However, annual registrations of 116,445 passenger and SUV vehicles for 2022 was the strongest year on record, up 3.8% (4,302 units) compared to 2021 with electrified passenger and SUV vehicles driving this outcome.
Overall, the new vehicle market (light and heavy) came in at just 0.3% (490 units) below 2021, making it the second highest year on record. It is an outstanding result given rising interest rates, a challenging business environment and inflationary pressures dampening economic activity. The outlook for 2023 is for a somewhat softer outcome, with businesses and private buyers tightening their belts.
Sales of BEVs for 2022 strongly exceeded expectations and are rapidly closing the gap on monthly sales of hybrids (see graph below).
Key points
· It was the second strongest month of December on record with 8,505 passenger and 3,335 commercial vehicles registered for the month.
· 2022 was the strongest year for registrations of passenger and SUV’s with 116,445 units, an increase of 4,302 over 2021.
· Vehicles with some form of electrification grew strongly in 2022 with 16,223 BEVs, 7,259 PHEVs and 17,621 hybrid vehicles registered for the year compared to 6,897 BEVs, 2,482 PHEVs and 13,794 Hybrids in 2021.
· The total vehicles retailed with some form of electrification in their drivetrain grew from 23,173 units in 2021 to 41,103 units in 2022, an increase of 77% (17,930 units).
· Small to medium segments comprised 59% of sales for the year. For the month of December, the top segments were SUV medium with 24% market share, followed by SUV compact with 20% market share and Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 with 16% share.
· For the month of December, the Ford Ranger was once again the top model (1114 units), followed by the Tesla Model Y (868 units), the Toyota Hilux (615 units) and then the Tesla Model 3 in fourth spot (413 units).
· For the year, the top models were the Ford Ranger (11,577 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux (9,787 units) and the Mitsubishi Outlander (9,104 units).
· There were 7,230 heavy vehicles (over 3500kgs GVM) registered during 2022, up from 6,282 registrations in 2021, an increase of 948 units.
Market leaders in December / 2022
For the month of December Toyota remained the overall market leader with 16% market share (1,944 units), followed by Ford with 14% (1,606 units) and Tesla in third spot with 11% market share (1,281 units).
For the year, the top three market leaders were Toyota with 17% market share (28,727 units) followed by Mitsubishi with 14% (23,886 units) and Ford with 9% market share (15,212 units, of which the Ford Ranger comprised 11,577 units).
BEVs, PHEVs and Hybrids / 2022
There were 2,289 light vehicle and 6 heavy vehicle full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) registered in December. The top selling models were the Tesla Model Y (868 units) followed by the Tesla Model 3 (413 units) and the BYD Atto 3 (318 units).
For the year the top selling models were the Tesla Model Y (4,226 units) followed by the Tesla Model 3 (2,781 units) and BYD Atto 3 (1,685 units). Both the Tesla Model Y and the BYD Atto 3 were introduced in the second half of 2022.
There were 388 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered in December. The top selling models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (143 units) followed by the Ford Escape (102 units) and then the Mitsubishi Outlander (53 units).
The top selling PHEVs for 2022 were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (2,705 units) following by its bigger sibling the Outlander (2,243 units) with MG HS in third (647 units).
There were 1,286 hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) registered in the month of December.
The top selling hybrid models for year were the Toyota RAV4 (3,841 units) followed by the Honda Jazz (1,893 units) and Toyota Corolla (1,640 units).
SUV and passenger vehicle sales December / 2022
Tesla was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations in December with 15% market share (1,281 units) followed by Toyota with 14% (1,193 units) and then Mitsubishi with 12% market share (981 units).
The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Tesla Model Y (868 units) followed by the Tesla Model 3 (413 units) and the MG ZS (396 units).
For the year the top selling passenger and SUV models were the Mitsubishi Outlander (9,104 units) followed by the Toyota RAV4 (5,863 units) and the Tesla Model Y (4,226 units). The Tesla Model Y was the first time a fully electric vehicle (BEV) made it to the top three for the year.
Commercial vehicle sales December / 2022
For the month of December, Ford regained the market lead with 35% market share (1,158 units) followed by Toyota with 23% (751 units) and Mitsubishi third with 9% market share (289 units).
For the year, Ford retained the commercial market lead with 25% (12,041 units), followed by Toyota with 24% (11,735 units) and Mitsubishi with 14% (6,630 units).
Top Models for 2022 (for all new vehicle registrations)
The top model for all new vehicle registrations for 2022 was the Ford Ranger with 7% (11,577 units). Toyota Hilux was in second spot with 6% share (9,787 units) and the Mitsubishi Outlander third, also with 6% market share 9,104 units).
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