According to the FCAI’s February 2022 sales figures, SUV sales were up by 5.4 percent over February 2021, with 44,935 total sales accounting for 52.6 percent of all new car registrations.
The light and midsize SUV segments accounted for the biggest increases last month, improving 23.3 percent and 11.1 percent respectively compared to February 2021.
It was a return to form for the Toyota RAV4 midsize SUV in February – recording 4454 sales over the past 28 days despite ongoing production woes and 12-month wait times.
The Toyota Prado showed again that age isn’t necessarily a barrier to strong sales
The Toyota RAV4’s return to form comes after a slow January which saw Toyota sell only 1425 examples of its in-demand SUV
Behind the family-friendly RAV4 was the evergreen Land Cruiser Prado three-row large SUV, racking up 2778 registrations in February despite being a 13 year-old design
The MG ZS small SUV also proved a huge success, expanding its February 2021 volume by 50 percent to record 1953 sales last month for third place.
Following the ZS was Mazda’s CX-30 small SUV in fourth with 1819 sales – a significant improvement on last month (1388) and enough to knock off the CX-5 as Australia’s favourite from Hiroshima.
The Mitsubishi Outlander made a strong showing in February
The new-generation Mitsubishi Outlander two- or three-row midsize SUV showed that practicality is popular in this category by recording 1673 registrations, followed by the Mazda CX-3 light SUV (1465 sales) and Kia Sportage in seventh (1296 sales).
The Mazda CX-5 (which took first place in January) slipped back to eighth spot in February with 1265 registrations and now stands third in 2022 year-to-date rankings at 4478 registrations, despite Mazda boasting of consistent stock levels. Perhaps buyers have been waiting for the CX-5’s imminent new-model refresh.
Subaru’s Forester came in ninth, just 27 sales shy of the CX-5 with 1258 units, while the Kia Seltos finished 10th.
An honourable mention goes to the Y62 Nissan Patrol which finished just outside the top 20. The 670 sales it racked up marked its second best sales month after September last year (700 sales) and saw the Patrol beat its arch nemesis from Toyota, the Land Cruiser 300 Series, by 28 units.
Top 20 best-selling SUVs February 2022
- Toyota RAV4 – 4454
- Toyota Prado – 2778
- MG ZS – 1953
- Mazda CX-30 – 1819
- Mitsubishi Outlander – 1673
- Mazda CX-3 – 1465
- Kia Sportage – 1296
- Mazda CX-5 – 1285
- Subaru Forester – 1258
- Kia Seltos – 1030
- Toyota Yaris Cross – 1013
- Subaru XV – 1007
- Hyundai Kona – 1003
- Isuzu MU-X – 855
- Mitsubishi ASX – 852
- Toyota C-HR – 804
- Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross – 757
- Hyundai Tucson – 731
- Hyundai Venue – 714
- Honda CR-V – 690