New Vehicle Market Down 5% Year to Date
Posted on 3rd September 2019 by Russell Phillips
For the fourth month in a row, fewer new vehicles were sold in August compared to the same month last year confirming that the overall market for the year will be down on 2018.
Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says that for the month of August the number of new vehicle sales were 4.5% lower than August last year.
He says overall year-to-date sales were down by 5.1% percent on the first eight months of 2018, a reduction of just over 5,400 fewer vehicles sold in 2019 to date.
“Growth has disappeared from the 2019 market and we are expecting an out turn for 2019 at about 6% below 2018 levels.”
Key points
- Overall August 2019 registrations of 12,607 vehicles were down 4.5% (583 units) on the same month in 2018.
- The market overall to the end of August is down 5.1% (5,418 units) on the first eight months of 2018.
- Registration of 8,506 passenger and SUVs for August 2019 were down 1.5% (133 units) on 2018 volumes, and commercial vehicle registrations of 4,101 were down 10.1% (460 units) compared to August 2018.
- The top two models for the month of August were utes, with the Ford Ranger continuing its hold on the top spot (733 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux (690 units) and the Toyota RAV4 in third place (468 units).
Market leaders in August
Toyota remains the overall market leader with 19% market share (2,372 units), followed by Ford with 9% (1,084 units) with Mitsubishi retaining third spot with 8% market share (1007 units).
SUV and passenger vehicle sales
Toyota was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 17% market share (1,468 units) followed by Mazda with 8% (701 units) and then Mitsubishi with 8% market share (659 units).
The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (468 units) followed by the Toyota Corolla (388 units) and the Mitsubishi ASX (289 units).
Commercial vehicle sales
Toyota regained the market lead with 22% market share (904 units) followed by Ford with 20% (831 units) and Mitsubishi third with 8% market share (348 units).
The Ford Ranger retained the top spot as the bestselling commercial model with 18% share (733 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 17% share (690 units) with the Mitsubishi Triton in third with 8% market share (348 units).
SUVs and light commercials continue market dominance
The top three segments for the month of August were SUV medium vehicles with 20% share followed by SUV Compact in third with 16% market share and the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 segment with 15% market share.
Top Models Year to Date
The top three models year to date are utes, with the Ford Ranger on top spot with 6,464 units, followed by the Toyota Hilux with 4,727 units and the Mitsubishi Triton with 3,843 units.