New-vehicle sales down 17.5%

Sales of passenger and commercial vehicles were down in June compared to the same month of last year, which is confirmation the market is tightening its belt in a recession, according to the Motor Industry Association.

Chief executive David Crawford, pictured, reports last month’s 11,514 new-vehicle registrations were down by 2,438 units and 17.5 per cent year to year, with June reflecting “a steady but weaker market compared to 2019”. 

“Year to date the market is down 29.1 per cent in a year that’s heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says. “The first six months of the year has been a year of two quarters. The first quarter saw the sales of 32,833 new vehicles, while the April to June quarter has seen just 20,866 new registrations – a reduction of 11,967 for the quarter.”

Last month there were 7,411 new passenger vehicles and SUVs sold. That was down by 15.3 per cent and 1,337 units on 2019 volumes, while commercial vehicle sales came in at 4,103 – down 21.2 per cent and by 1,101 units compared to June 2019.

The top three models for the month of June were the Ford Ranger with 641 sales, followed by Toyota’s Hilux on 595 and Holden’s Colorado with 482.

The top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month were Toyota’s RAV4 on 403, the Kia Sportage with 287 and the Toyota Corolla on 271.

While June’s top three models were one-tonne utes, overall the top segments were dominated by SUVs. The number-one spot went to the medium-sized SUVs with a market share of 19 per cent, followed by compact SUVs with 18 per cent. Next up was the pick-up/chassis four-by-four segment with 17 per cent.

Toyota was last month’s overall market leader with 16 per cent market share (1,874 units), followed by Holden with nine per cent (995 units) and Ford in third spot with eight per cent (868 units). 

The Japanese marque was also the market leader for passenger vehicle registrations with 13 per cent market share (954 units). Next up was Kia with 10 per cent (708 units) and Hyundai with eight per cent (576 units).

Toyota retained the market lead for commercials with 22 per cent market share (920 units) followed by Ford with 17 per cent (714 units) and Holden third with 12 per cent market share (485 units).

Pure electric vehicles continued their modest rate of monthly registrations at 131 units for June, with 54 PHEVs and 590 hybrid vehicles also sold last month.