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.

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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