According to figures released by VFACTS this week, 95,221 new cars were sold in August, a drop of 1.5 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

 

Cumulative industry sales year to date reached 786,294 to the end of August, 0.3 per cent behind the record-setting total for the first eight months of 2017.

 

SUVs remain the dominant body style taking a 42.8 per cent market share (up 8.3 per cent), while passenger cars accounted for 33.6 per cent of sales (down 13.4 per cent). Light commercials took a 20.2 per cent share of registrations (down 1.9 per cent).

 

Interestingly, hybrid and electric models only notched up 1283 and 133 sales respectively, although the total for EVs doesn’t include Tesla.

 

Tony Weber, the Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said: “Given last month’s Federal political distractions, movements in residential property prices and economic difficulties such as the drought in places like western NSW and Queensland, the August result shows there is clearly retained confidence in the business sector.”

 

Toyota was again the best-selling brand moving 18,833 sales (up 1.7 per cent) to take a 19.8 per cent market share.

 

Mazda recorded a 26.2 per cent increase over August 2017 with 10,470 sales (the new five-year warranty might explain the jump), while Hyundai took the third spot on the podium with 8006 sales (up 2.6 per cent).

 

Things are still looking difficult for Holden (4356 sales) which was down 37.6 per cent and Ford (5962 sales), down 10.3 per cent.

 

MG continued to build momentum on the back of the well-received ZS, the brand racked up 332 sales (up 577.6 per cent). Similar story for Volvo on the back of a desirable SUV line-up, the Swedish flag bearer recorded 689 registrations (up 83.7 per cent).

 

The top end of town found the going tough in August, Lexus (down 11.7 per cent), BMW (down 12.2 per cent), Audi (down 25.8 per cent) and Porsche (down 25.4 per cent) all went backwards.

 

The Toyota Hilux was Australia’s best-selling vehicle during August with total sales of 4275, followed by the Ford Ranger with 3515, the Toyota Corolla (3033), Mazda 3 (2969), and the Mazda CX-5 (2599).

 

Top 10 selling vehicle brands – August 2018

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