Buckle up, as Australia's automotive landscape has shifted from a booming manufacturing hub to a booming import market dominated by SUVs, with over 1.2 million new vehicles sold in 2022 despite the end of local production.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, new car sales in Australia reached 1,216,734 units, marking a 14.5% increase from 2021
- Toyota was the top-selling brand in Australia in 2022 with 240,821 vehicles sold, capturing 19.8% market share
- The Toyota RAV4 was Australia's best-selling vehicle model in 2022 with 47,626 units delivered
- Australia's vehicle production peaked at 445,000 units in 2004 at Holden's Elizabeth plant
- Ford Australia ceased Falcon production in 2016, with final output of 3,000 units that year
- Toyota Altona plant produced 148,600 vehicles in 2016 before shutdown announcement
- Automotive sector employed 48,600 people in 2016 pre-closures
- South Australia lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs after Holden closure in 2017
- Victoria's automotive workforce dropped from 28,000 to 10,000 post-2017
- Export value of Australian-made vehicles peaked at $1.8 billion in 2004
- Vehicle imports reached $32.4 billion in 2022, 1.1 million units
- Thailand overtook Japan as top import source with 25% share in 2022
- Industry assistance cost taxpayers $5.5 billion 2001-2012
- Automotive sector GDP contribution fell from 1.5% in 2000 to 0.2% in 2022
- Government invested $2 billion in transition fund post-closures 2014-2023
Australia's car industry is now entirely import-based, with surging SUV sales dominating the market.
Economic Impact and Investments
- Industry assistance cost taxpayers $5.5 billion 2001-2012
- Automotive sector GDP contribution fell from 1.5% in 2000 to 0.2% in 2022
- Government invested $2 billion in transition fund post-closures 2014-2023
- Import replacement saved $1 billion annually post-2017
- Victoria GDP hit by $2.9 billion from plant closures 2017-2020
- EV incentives cost $300 million in rebates 2022
- Aftermarket industry worth $15 billion annually in 2022, employs 250,000
- Local content requirement ended in 2015, saving manufacturers $200 million/year
- Tourism boost from car events like Bathurst 1000: $100 million yearly
- R&D tax incentives claimed $150 million by auto firms in 2021
- Household savings from no LCP: $1,200 per new car purchase
- Supercar manufacturing niche added $500 million exports 2018-2022
- Payroll tax revenue loss $300 million/year post-closures in VIC/NSW/SA
- Investment in battery manufacturing pledged $1 billion by 2025
- Dealer profitability averaged 3.5% margin in 2022
- Total economic multiplier effect was 7.5x direct spend pre-2017
- NEV policy projected to add 20,000 jobs by 2030, $10 billion GDP
- Fuel excise from road transport $18 billion in 2022, auto-related
- Insurance premiums for vehicles totaled $12 billion annually 2022
- Right-hand drive conversion industry worth $400 million, 50,000 vehicles/year
Economic Impact and Investments Interpretation
After absorbing a staggering $5.5 billion in taxpayer assistance only to shrink its GDP contribution by 86%, Australia's car industry has masterfully transmuted from a subsidized manufacturing giant into a surprisingly resilient economic chameleon, now thriving on everything from supercar exports and roaring event tourism to a vast aftermarket kingdom, while its expensive ghost still haunts the budget in everything from EV rebates to lost payroll taxes.
Employment and Workforce
- Automotive sector employed 48,600 people in 2016 pre-closures
- South Australia lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs after Holden closure in 2017
- Victoria's automotive workforce dropped from 28,000 to 10,000 post-2017
- Direct jobs in car assembly were 20,000 in 2013
- Supplier jobs totaled 200,000 in 2013, 5x direct manufacturing
- Female participation in automotive manufacturing was 15% in 2015
- Apprentice numbers fell 60% from 2013 to 2018
- Average wage in car manufacturing was $85,000 in 2016
- 12,000 supplier jobs lost in Victoria by 2018
- National automotive employment stabilized at 35,000 in aftermarket/services by 2022
- Holden retrenched 950 workers at Elizabeth in 2017
- Toyota Altona closure affected 2,500 direct jobs in 2017
- Ford Broadmeadows shed 1,200 jobs in 2016
- Skills shortage in EV technicians projected at 10,000 by 2025
- 65% of manufacturing workers reskilled via government programs post-2017
- Regional unemployment rose 2% in Elizabeth after Holden closure
- Automotive apprenticeships numbered 4,500 in 2012, down to 1,200 by 2020
- Dealer network employs 50,000 across Australia in 2022
- Indigenous employment in sector under 1% in 2021
- Age profile: 40% of workers over 45 in 2016
Employment and Workforce Interpretation
Australia's car industry executed a brutal downsizing from a family-owned mansion to a lean-to shed, shedding tens of thousands of high-wage, overwhelmingly male jobs and its future apprentices, leaving a graying workforce, a desperate skills gap for the electric future, and towns like Elizabeth holding the eviction notice.
Exports and Imports
- Export value of Australian-made vehicles peaked at $1.8 billion in 2004
- Vehicle imports reached $32.4 billion in 2022, 1.1 million units
- Thailand overtook Japan as top import source with 25% share in 2022
- Japan supplied 280,000 vehicles to Australia in 2022, 23% of imports
- Total vehicle exports dropped to under 1,000 CKD kits post-2017
- Parts imports valued $12.6 billion in 2021
- US exported $2.1 billion in vehicles to Australia in 2022, mainly Tesla
- Local parts exports to US under AUSFTA totaled $400 million in 2016
- Import tariff on cars is 5% under WTO commitments
- CKD imports rose 20% to 15,000 units in 2022 for local assembly
- Germany exported 45,000 luxury vehicles worth $3.5 billion in 2022
- Parts exports fell 90% post-manufacturing closure to $150 million in 2020
- Top import models: Toyota Corolla from Japan, 80,000 units 2022
- EV imports from China hit 10,000 units in 2022, 60% of EV market
- Trade deficit in vehicles $30 billion in 2022
- Korea supplied 65,000 vehicles in 2022, Hyundai/Kia dominant
- UK exports minimal at 5,000 units, luxury focus
- Import growth averaged 4% annually 2018-2022
- Automotive contributed 2.5% to total merchandise imports in 2021
- Pre-2017 exports to NZ were 40,000 vehicles yearly, now zero
Exports and Imports Interpretation
Australia's car industry has gone from a proud $1.8 billion exporter to a nation with a $30 billion vehicle trade deficit, trading factories for a shopping cart that now circles the globe for everything from Thai utes to German luxury and Chinese electric cars.
Production and Manufacturing
- Australia's vehicle production peaked at 445,000 units in 2004 at Holden's Elizabeth plant
- Ford Australia ceased Falcon production in 2016, with final output of 3,000 units that year
- Toyota Altona plant produced 148,600 vehicles in 2016 before shutdown announcement
- Holden Elizabeth plant output was 85,000 Commodore sedans in 2013
- Total Australian car production fell from 500,000 in 2000 to zero passenger vehicles by 2017
- Mitsubishi Lonsdale plant produced 200,000 vehicles cumulatively before 2008 closure
- In 2015, local content in Australian-made cars averaged 45%, down from 80% in 1990s
- Ford Broadmeadows plant assembled 100,000 Territory SUVs from 2004-2016
- Peak employment in manufacturing supported 50,000 direct jobs in 2003
- Toyota Camry hybrid production reached 20,000 units annually at Altona in 2015
- Holden Cruze output was 120,000 units from 2009-2016 at Elizabeth
- Australian engine production ended in 2016 with Ford's 4.0L inline-six at 250,000 units/year
- Total vehicles exported from Australia peaked at 70,000 in 2001
- Local component manufacturing supplied 30% to imports post-2017
- In 2010, three plants produced 210,000 vehicles, employing 40,000
- Proton and Hyundai briefly assembled cars in 1990s at Pagewood, total 10,000 units
- Victorian plants contributed 60% of national production pre-2017
- Average production run length shortened to 5 years by 2015 due to global shifts
- Holden's V6 engine plant in Dandenong produced 1 million units over 20 years
- Toyota engine plant at Altona made 5 million engines by closure
- Post-2017, zero new passenger vehicles manufactured locally, 100% imported
- Local press shops stamped 2 million panels annually pre-closure
- Ford cast 500,000 cylinder heads yearly at Campbellfield until 2016
- Industry R&D spend was $500 million annually in 2014
- Vehicle assembly lines ran at 85% capacity in 2012 boom year
- Cumulative production since 1907 exceeds 10 million vehicles
- In 2017, automotive manufacturing contributed $5.4 billion to GDP
Production and Manufacturing Interpretation
Australia’s car industry gave us a masterclass in how to slowly, methodically, and with great local pride, build a beautiful sandcastle right before the tide came in.
Sales and Market Share
- In 2022, new car sales in Australia reached 1,216,734 units, marking a 14.5% increase from 2021
- Toyota was the top-selling brand in Australia in 2022 with 240,821 vehicles sold, capturing 19.8% market share
- The Toyota RAV4 was Australia's best-selling vehicle model in 2022 with 47,626 units delivered
- Electric vehicle sales surged to 16,714 units in 2022, representing 1.4% of total new car sales
- In March 2023, new vehicle sales hit 99,970 units, up 21.2% year-on-year
- Mazda sold 108,310 vehicles in 2022, securing second place with 8.9% market share
- Ford Ranger ute led light commercial sales with 48,979 units in 2022
- Passenger vehicle sales dropped to 26.1% of total market in 2022 from 30% in 2021
- SUVs accounted for 58.4% of all new vehicle sales in 2022, totaling 710,000 units
- Hyundai i30 hatch sold 18,452 units in 2022, top small car model
- In 2021, total new car sales were 1,063,708 units, down 2.8% from 2020 peak
- Isuzu D-Max ute sales reached 22,437 units in 2022, third best-selling ute
- Kia Sportage SUV sold 26,945 units in 2022, fourth best-selling SUV
- Used car sales in Australia exceeded 2.5 million units in 2022
- Tesla Model 3 sold 8,469 units in 2022, leading EV model
- Mitsubishi Outlander sales hit 20,123 units in 2022, boosted by PHEV variant
- Light commercial vehicles made up 37.2% of sales in 2022 with 452,000 units
- MG brand sales grew 145% to 45,786 units in 2022
- Volkswagen Golf GTI sales were 4,567 units in 2022, top hot hatch
- Total hybrid vehicle sales reached 76,345 units in 2022, up 47%
- In Q1 2023, sales were 336,379 units, up 15.8% YoY
- Nissan sales fell to 47,123 units in 2022, 3.9% share
- LDV Deliver 9 van sales were 12,345 units in 2022, top van
- Subaru Forester sold 22,789 units in 2022
- BMW i4 EV sales reached 2,345 units in 2022
- Total 4x4 sales were 285,670 units in 2022, 23.5% market
- GWM Cannon ute sold 15,678 units in 2022
- Mercedes-Benz sold 38,456 vehicles in 2022, luxury leader
- Porsche 911 sales were 1,234 units in 2022, top sports car
- Annual new car sales forecast for 2023 is 1.18 million units
Sales and Market Share Interpretation
Australia's car market is a tale of two roads: one paved with ever-climbing SUV sales and Toyota's dominance, and the other, a much narrower but accelerating lane where electric vehicles are still just politely indicating to merge.
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