New Car Sales April 2019

Details: Written by James Kelly; Published: 03 May 2019

The Australian new car market continues to drop according to data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). In April, a total of 75,550 vehicles were reported as sold representing an 8.9 per cent decrease on the same month last year.

Year to date sales figures as of the end of April totalled 344,088 units, which is 8.1 per cent down on the same period in 2018.

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI said: “The results for April are in line with trends for year-to-date 2019. We have seen a decrease of around eight per cent across the first four months of the year.

“This decrease is the result of a number of factors in the Australian market, including the downturn in the housing market, the tightening of lending practices, environmental factors such as drought and flood, and, of course, the imminent Federal Government election.

“With all these elements currently present in the market, it is no surprise that Australian consumers are conservative in their approach to major purchases at the moment.”

SUVs hold the largest share of the action with a 43.9 per cent of the market while passenger cars and light commercial vehicles account for 31.5 and 20.6 per cent respectively.

Toyota again claimed the top spot with 15,135 sales (down 9.1 per cent), followed by Mazda with 7644 (down 1.0 per cent), Hyundai with 6469 (down 9.3 per cent), Ford with 4803 (down 0.4 per cent) and Mitsubishi with 4717 (-14.4 per cent).

Other top ten brands to suffer significant drops were Holden (down 23.8 per cent), Nissan (down 25.2 per cent) and Subaru (down 25.2 per cent).

Kia was the only top ten brand to stay in positive territory with a 0.4 per cent rise. Interestingly, in the mainstream, only Kia and Mitsubishi are ahead of their respective results over the same period in 2018.

The premium marques are also under the pump with Audi (down 31.4 per cent), Mercedes-Benz (down 15 per cent), Land Rover (down 14.2 per cent) and Lexus (down 13.4 per cent) all feeling the heat. BMW went close to matching the corresponding month last year, the Bavarian brand dropped 1.0 per cent with 1805 sales.

Lower volume brands MG, Haval and Great Wall enjoyed a successful April, as did Ram with the 1500 pick-up proving to strike the right note with cashed-up ute buyers.

The Toyota HiLux (3621) and Ford Ranger (3011) maintained their spots at the top of the batting order followed by the Toyota Corolla (2429), Mazda 3 (2195) and the evergreen LandCruiser range (2034).

Top 10 selling new vehicles - April 2019

Toyota HiLux - 3621

Ford Ranger - 3011

Toyota Corolla - 2429

Mazda 3 - 2195

Toyota LandCruiser - 2034

Hyundai i30 - 1910

Mazda CX-5 - 1827

Kia Cerato - 1650

Toyota Prado - 1473

Hyundai Tucson - 1355

Top 10 selling vehicle brands - April 2019