New vehicle sales strong

Sales of new vehicles in July 2016 were beyond levels expected, at 11,570 new vehicles, says the chief executive officer of the Motor Industry Association, David Crawford. “This is up 11.6 per cent on July 2015,” he says, “and delivering a steady 6.2 per cent growth for the year to date. Along with record sales year to date, consumer preferences for vehicles continues to evolve, with registrations of SUVs now regularly outstripping all other passenger vehicle segments.” Crawford says 3,868 registrations for the month gave the highest July figures ever for commercial vehicles. “For the month of July there were 7,702 passenger and SUV vehicle registrations and 3,868 commercial vehicle registrations, which were once again the highest month of July on record for commercial vehicle registrations.” Toyota remains the passenger car market leader for July with 17 per cent share (1,321 units), with Mazda second on 9 per cent (686 units) and Holden third also with 9 per cent (663 units). Ford regained the commercial vehicle market lead from Toyota with 25 per cent share (972 units) followed by Toyota with 18 per cent (703 units) and Holden third with 8 per cent (317 units). Year-to-date, Ford and Toyota have 21 per cent of the commercial market with Ford holding a slight lead with 5,357 units registered to date and Toyota with 5,318 units. The Ford Ranger retained its position as the monthly top selling commercial model for July with 24 per cent market share (925 units), it was the top selling model overall, and it set a new record for the number of light commercial vehicles sold in a month. The Toyota Hilux was the second best seller with 13 per cent market share (486 units) with the Holden Colorado at 8 per cent (303 units). The Toyota Corolla was the top selling passenger model for July with 6 per cent market share (486 units), followed by the Kia Sportage on 5 per cent (378 units) and the Toyota RAV4 on 4 per cent (326 units). The SUV segments accounted for 34 per cent of vehicle registrations for July followed by passenger segments with 32 per cent and light commercial segments with 28 per cent share. For July, the top models sold were either SUVs or light commercial vehicles. Only three passenger models made the top 15 in sales for the month. “Consumer preferences for different types of vehicles continues to evolve,” says Crawford. “It is the rise and rise of the SUV segment that has seen the biggest substitution over the years. It accounted for only 12 per cent of the market in 2002 and 18 per cent during the global financial crisis, but by the end of 2016 is likely to be 37 per cent of the market. In which case, 2016 will for the first time see the SUV segment outselling the passenger segment over a 12-month period,” says Crawford.