Interesting figures on global car sales for 2022.
The Toyota RAV4 holds first place. Tesla Model Y is third, following the Toyota Camry with a growth of plus 91%. My first car in the USA was a Camry, the second – a RAV4, and I think the Tesla Model Y will be just right for you 😉
Essentially, Toyota and Tesla dominate the top ten. Mercedes starts at 34th place with the GLC. It’s interesting to look at the tail end. Land Rover Range Rover is in 485th place.
Quoting the conclusions:
“Sales of new cars decreased by 2% compared to 2021, to 79.4 million units. In 2021: 80.7 million units.
The decline resulted from demand issues in the 2nd and 3rd largest markets in the world, US-Canada and Europe, as well as a slowdown in sales in China. These three markets made up almost 69% of the total global sales volume. These issues were linked to the lack of new cars available due to supply chain problems, and a shortage of semiconductors.
Another factor in the sales decrease was the war between Russia and Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia had a significant impact on sales, particularly for Russia, which was the 11th largest car market in 2021, but last year fell to 21st. Sales there dropped by 59%, or almost 1 million units.
Conversely, demand in India surged by 24% and reached a new high at 4.37 million units. An additional 851,000 units compared to 2021 allowed India to overtake Japan and become the third largest car market in the world. However, the total number of new cars sold per 1,000 residents remains extremely low at 3.1 units, the lowest among the top 25 car markets.
In Latin America, conditions improved thanks to a limited recovery of the Mexican market and better circumstances in Chile. Nevertheless, this region, the largest among emerging markets, still lags behind developed countries in terms of new cars per 1,000 inhabitants, recording only 7.7 units compared to 16 units in China, 21 units in Europe, and 41 units in the US and Canada.
Another bright spot in 2022 was the Southeast Asian-Pacific region. Indonesia nearly competed with Australia as the largest market in the region with double-digit growth. This was one of the results of rising economy of the country, increased international tourism, growth of private investments, and high consumer spending. Malaysia surpassed the 700,000 unit mark for the first time due to tax relief policies throughout the year.
Financial stimuli, measures, and incentives adopted post-pandemic boosted demand in the Middle East, where the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council accounted for 46% of the 2.75 million units sold. This region is expected to play a more significant role in the global automotive context as Saudi Arabia, the 19th largest automobile market in the world, aims to become a hub for car production.
The country’s sovereign wealth fund recently acquired key stakes in companies such as Lucid Group and Aston Martin. Investments in electric vehicle production are expected to reach $50 billion over the next decade.
Finally, sales volume in Africa grew by 5.5% to 1.15 million units thanks to a 14% increase in the South African market, the largest in the region. Sales in this country accounted for 44% of the total sales volume on the continent, aided by the recovery of tourism and travel, which stimulated the rental market. Sales in North Africa accounted for 42% of the continent’s total volume. South Africa accounted for 45%. East, Central, and West Africa accounted for 4.8%, 1.3%, and 6.7% of the total volume, respectively.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 