THE popularity of the Toyota RAV4 continues to grow, with the mid-sized SUV knocking the Toyota HiLux of the top step of the new car sales podium, as COVID-19 continues to hurt the market.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reports a 12.8 per cent reduction for July over the same time last year, with 72,505 vehicles sold last month, compared to 83,184 in 2019.
“On a year to date basis, there were 514,920 vehicles sold to July 2020, which represents a decrease of 19.2 per cent on the same period in 2019, when sales totalled 637,650 vehicles,” FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said.
“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,” he added.
“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.”
The shake up in the top ten saw the HiLux relegated to third (2,947 sales), with the Ford Ranger splitting the difference with the RAV4 (3,104 sales), ahead of the Toyota Corolla (2,192 sales) and the Hyundai i30 (1,745 sales).
Spots six to ten were filled by the Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda CX-3, Toyota Camry and Mazda3.
Toyota remains the leading car maker with 15,508 sales, followed by Mazda (7,806 sales), Mitsubishi (4,684 sales), Hyundai (4,634 sales), and Kia (4,625 sales), and as has long been the case, we still love our SUVs and utes.
A total of 70.9 per cent of the market is devoted solely to these two segments, with SUVs claiming 50.4 per cent of the market with 36,560 sales and light commercial vehicles (aka utes) claiming a 20.5 per cent share with 14,898 sales.
Passenger vehicles, which totalled 18,149 sales for the month, represented just 25 per cent of the market. Current COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and increased cases in New South Wales are expected to have further impact on the automotive industry.
