July new car sales reflect challenging market

The challenging market conditions for new car sales in July 2020 were reflected in a 12.8% decline over the previous corresponding period says the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

More than 72,505 new vehicles were sold in Australia in July 2020 as opposed to 83,184 units in July 2019.

On a year to date basis, there were 514,920 vehicles sold to July 2020, which represents a decrease of 19.2% on the same period in 2019, when sales totalled 637,650 vehicles.

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% and 22.6% respectively.

The leading brand for the month was Toyota, with 15,508 sales, followed by Mazda (7806 sales), Mitsubishi (4684 sales), Hyundai (4634 sales), and Kia (4625 sales).

Segmentation of the market continued to demonstrate the Australian consumer’s preference for sports utility vehicles and light commercial vehicles, with 70.9% of the market devoted to these two segments.

SUVs claimed 50.4% of the market with 36,560 sales and LCVs claimed 20.5% cent of the market with 14,898 sales. Passenger vehicles, which totalled 18,149 sales for the month, represented 25% of the market.

This consumer preference was reflected in the top 10 vehicles sold, which included six SUVs and LCVs and four passenger vehicles. The top selling vehicle for the month was the Toyota RAV4, with 4309 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger (3104 sales), Toyota Hi-Lux (2947 sales), Toyota Corolla (2192 sales) and the Hyundai i30 (1745 sales).

FCAI chief executive officer Tony Weber says 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 four restrictions which have now been invoked in Australia’s second largest market, Victoria, will no doubt further challenge the industry during the coming months,” Weber says.