VFACTS: The Unicorns – new cars that posted just one sale in 2021
While 2021’s top-selling vehicles passed the 50,000 mark, a surprising number of cars posted annual sales that can be counted on one finger.
When studying new-car sales data, it’s natural to want to jump straight to the top of the list to see which car was any given year’s most popular.
It’s no different in 2021, where the Toyota HiLux ended the year in Australia as number one, with sales of 52,801. In fact, the top 10 cars sold in Australia in 2021 accounted for 302,213 sales, or 28.8 per cent of the total (1,049,831) over the calendar year.
At the other end of the charts are the cars that enjoyed annual sales that can be counted on one finger.
In 2021, just seven models racked up an annual sales figure of exactly one. Here are 2021’s unicorns of Australia’s new-car landscape.
Toyota Prius C
The hatchback variant of Toyota’s globally-popular Prius hybrid was discontinued in Australia at the end of 2019, leaving a number on dealer forecourts in 2020.
Sales of 83 Prius Cs in that year accounted for most of the new-old stock, but one buyer wasn’t deterred in 2021, snapping up a single example in February.
Lexus GS
Lexus pulled the pin globally on its large GS sedan midway through 2020.
In Australia, it ended its tenure in Lexus dealerships with 24 sales for the 2020 calendar year. In March 2021, a single Lexus GS found a new home Down Under. It remains the last example sold locally; we hope it was the much-loved GS F variant.
Jaguar XJ
The end of production in 2019 of the then-flagship Jaguar XJ reflected a change in consumer tastes, with luxury car buyers eschewing saloons for SUVs from the premium brands. The XJ’s history dates back to 1968 but even that wasn’t enough to save it from the production axe.
Still, for at least one buyer in 2021, nostalgia counted for something and in February they snapped up what was possibly the last remaining XJ in the country.
Jaguar had previously confirmed an all-new, all-electric XJ was in the pipeline, but the Indian-owned British brand pulled the plug in early 2021.
Caterham
Yes, these cars still exist. Yes, you can still buy one. Someone did. In December. A Christmas present, perhaps?
Lotus Evora
Lotus has always been a niche player, never more so than in Australia. As a brand, the British marque grew 20.3 per cent in 2021, shifting 71 new cars against the previous year’s 59. Just one of those was the flagship Evora, the lone buyer taking ownership in April.
Lotus has since confirmed that all three of its mainstay models – Elise, Exige and Evora – are no more as the brand transitions to an all-electric future excluding 2022’s petrol-powered Emira coupe).
Shame, as we’ve loved all three of the brand’s lightweight sports cars over the years. We hope the new owner is happy with their Evora.
Ford EcoSport
Ford’s compact SUV disappeared from local showrooms in 2020, replaced by the charming and much more likeable Ford Puma.
But while Ford Australia confirmed to Drive in May 2020 that the last EcoSport had been delivered to a dealership, a lone example was reported as sold in February 2021. It remains the last EcoSport sold in Australia. We hope they got a bargain.
Toyota FJ Cruiser
We love this one. Toyota called time on its rugged, urban-focused off-roader in 2016, not just in Australia, but around the world. More’s the pity as its blend of retro styling and off-road ability stood out in a sea of increasing homogenisation.
Toyota sold a total of 12,171 FJ Cruisers from 2011 to its demise in 2016, although it should be noted a dribbling of those sales (98) came in the following years
– 97 examples in 2017, and one in 2019 – as dealers cleared stock.Now, we can make that tally 12,172 following the sale – in August 2021 – of what was likely the last remaining ‘new’ MY2016 FJ Cruiser in the country.
Priced at $46,990 plus on-road costs when new in 2016, we’d be keen to know how much the new owner paid for what, as a vehicle sold at least five years after it was built, is officially the ‘oldest new car sold in Australia’ in 2021
And the Zombies
While the MY2016 Toyota FJ Cruiser was the oldest new car to find a home in 2021, a couple of other new-old-stock models also managed to find their way out of dealership forecourts and into Aussie driveways.
The Ford Mondeo, discontinued in 2019, racked up four sales in 2021.
And Toyota hasn’t had a new Tarago on sale since 2019, but that didn’t stop Toyota finding new homes for six of them in 2021.
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