New car sales contracted again in July according to VFACTS data released today by The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
 
Challenging market conditions including the COVID-19 pandemic saw a total of 72,505 vehicles sold during July, a decrease of 12.8 per cent when compared to July 2019, when sales totalled 83,184.
 
Cumulatively, at the end of July, 514,920 new vehicles have been sold representing a drop of 19.2 per cent over the same period in 2019 when sales totalled 637,650 units.
 
On a state by state basis, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory demonstrated a slight recovery. Victoria and Tasmania did not fare quite so well and recorded a downturn of 27.8 per cent and 22.6 per cent respectively.
 
Passenger cars were down by 7237 vehicle sales (-28.5 per cent), SUVs dropped by 1334 sales (-3.5 per cent), while light commercials fell by 1812 sales (-10.8 per cent).
 
In July, SUVs represented 50.4 per cent of the total market, it’s the first time SUVs have accounted for more than half of the sales mix.
 
Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI said given current market conditions and the industry’s long-term downturn, the July 2020 results were not unexpected.
 
“The Australian automotive industry, like many sectors in the Australian market, continues to face challenging and difficult conditions, exacerbated by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
 
“The extended Stage 4 Restrictions which have now been invoked in Australia’s second-largest market, Victoria, will no doubt further challenge the industry during the coming months.”
 
As is the norm, Toyota was the leading brand in July with 15,508 sales, followed by Mazda (7806 sales), Mitsubishi (4684 sales), Hyundai (4634 sales), and Kia (4,625 sales).
 
Kia’s 4625 sales represented an improvement of 2.6 per cent, a great result given the circumstances. The only other top ten brand to avoid a drop was Volkswagen, the German marque grew by 2.8 per cent with 3710 sales.
 
Smaller brands that defied the downturn were Volvo (up 23.1 per cent), Alfa Romeo (up 67.9 per cent from a very low base), while Audi jumped a whopping 53 per cent on the back of plenty of updated models.
 
Despite an 8.9 per cent drop, Mercedes-Benz finished in the top ten. Premium rivals BMW (down 42.5 per cent), Jaguar (down 42.9 per cent), Land Rover (down 40 per cent), and Lexus (down 29.5 per cent) all had shockers.
 
The top-selling vehicle for the month was the Toyota RAV4 with 4309 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger (3104 sales), Toyota HiLux (2947 sales), Toyota Corolla (2192 sales) and the Hyundai i30 (1745 sales).
 
A full segment by segment breakdown is included below.
 
Top 10 selling new vehicles – July 2020
 
Toyota RAV4 - 4309, up 78.1 per cent
Ford Ranger - 3104, down 2 per cent
Toyota HiLux - 2947, down 12.7 per cent
Toyota Corolla - 2192, down 32.4 per cent
Hyundai i30 - 1745, down 22.5 per cent
Mazda CX-5 - 1727, down 20.0 per cent
Mitsubishi Triton - 1593, up 4.5 per cent
Mazda CX-3 - 1355, up 5.4 per cent
Toyota Camry - 1281, down 19.8 per cent
Mazda 3 - 1224, down 35.4 per cent
 
Top 10 selling vehicle brands - July 2020
 
Toyota - 15,508, down 13.2 per cent
Mazda - 7806, down 5.1 per cent
Mitsubishi - 4684, down 10.7 per cent
Hyundai - 4634, down 33.6 per cent
Kia - 4625, up 2.6 per cent
Ford - 4573, down 6.7 per cent
Volkswagen - 3710, up 2.8 per cent
Nissan - 2906, down 23.6 per cent
Subaru - 2864, down 18.5 per cent
Mercedes-Benz - 2556, down 8.5 per cent
 
Segment breakdown
 
Micro cars: Kia Picanto 337, Mitsubishi Mirage 113, Fiat 500 44
Light cars: MG 3 571, Suzuki Swift 369, VW Polo 365
Light cars over $40k: Mini 102, Audi A1 47, Citroen C3 4
Small cars: Toyota Corolla 2192, Hyundai i30 1745, Mazda 3 1224
Small cars over $40k: Mercedes A-Class 588, Audi A3 331, BMW 1 Series 98
Medium cars: Toyota Camry 1281, Skoda Octavia 192, Mazda 6 122
Medium cars over $60k: Mercedes C-Class 299, Mercedes CLA 236, BMW 3 Series 84
Large cars: Kia Stinger 197, Holden Commodore 103, Skoda Superb 40
Large cars over $70k: Mercedes E-Class 67, BMW 5 Series 40, Audi A6 17
Upper large cars: Chrysler 300 23, Mercedes-Benz S-Class 20, BMW 8 Series GC 14
People movers: Kia Carnival 369, Honda Odyssey 86, LDV G10 62
Sports cars: Ford Mustang 279, Mercedes-Benz C-Class 92, Hyundai Veloster 72
Sports cars over $80k: Mercedes-Benz C-Class 92, Mercedes E-Class 50, Toyota Supra 20
Sports over $200k: Porsche 911 32, BMW 8 Series Coupe 14, Ferrari 12
Light SUV: Mazda CX-3 1355, VW T-Cross 344, Hyundai Venue 282
Small SUV: Mitsubishi ASX 1035, Mazda CX-30 990, Kia Seltos 930
Small SUV over $40k: Audi Q3 226, Volvo XC40 215, Audi Q2 137
Medium SUV: Toyota RAV4 4309, Mazda CX-5 1727, Nissan X-Trail 1116
Medium SUV over $60k: Mercedes GLC/Coupe 562, BMW X3/X4 299, Audi Q5 297
Large SUV: Toyota Kluger 1057, Toyota Prado 779, Isuzu MU-X 622
Large SUV over $70k: Mercedes GLE/Coupe 276, BMW X5/X6 125, Lexus RX 115
Upper large SUV: Toyota LandCruiser 479, Nissan Patrol 105
Upper large SUV over $100k: BMW X7 65, Mercedes GLS 64, Land Rover Discovery 39
Vans under 2.5t: Volkswagen Caddy 151, Renault Kangoo 68, Peugeot Partner 32
Vans 2.5-3.5t: Toyota HiAce 353, Ford Transit Cust. 200, Renault Trafic 139
4×2 utes: Toyota HiLux 896, Ford Ranger 305, Mazda BT-50 272
4×4 utes: Ford Ranger 2799, Toyota HiLux 2051, Mitsubishi Triton 1392
 
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