2022 Hyundai i30 poised to steal passenger sales crown from Toyota Corolla

Hyundai Australia’s strategy to bring in the new-gen Elantra as the i30 sedan is paying off as its small-car nameplate shoots past Toyota’s perennial Corolla in the hotly-contested 2022 passenger car sales race.

After four months of trading, Hyundai has managed to shift 7924 examples of its i30 hatchback and sedan, and while that is less than the combined i30 and Elantra sales over the same period in 2021, it is enough for the Korean small car to be the most-popular passenger car so far this year.

Over the same time period, Toyota has sold 7239 Corollas (hatch and sedan), which is a noticeable 23.4 per cent drop over the 9454 sales the Japanese brand managed in the first four months of 2021.

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If Hyundai Australia had stuck with the Elantra nameplate for its i30 sedan, it would currently be second behind the Corolla, with 7000 i30 hatches registered to the end of April this year.

The i30 sedan has added another 924 units to the bottom line, giving Hyundai the boost it needs to edge ahead of the Corolla by 685 sales.

However, buyers of popular Toyota models like the Corolla are experiencing extended delays and prolonged wait times as the automotive industry struggles with ongoing supply issues.

Back in March, Toyota Australia detailed that the average wait time for a Corolla is up to six months depending on variant, but it is known that hybrid powertrains are proving more and more popular.

It is likely Toyota Australia is holding orders of the Corolla, and when they arrive Down Under and delivered to customers, will then be recorded in VFACTS.

If Toyota can manage to secure a large enough supply of Corollas to be delivered by the end of the year, the Japanese brand could very well come out ahead in 2022.

For context, the next best-selling small car is the Kia Cerato on 4641, followed by the Mazda3 with 3823 new registrations so far in 2022.

However, the one-size-smaller MG3 light hatch has found 6131 new homes to the end of April, making it the third best-selling passenger car so far this year.