Sales flat across ditch

There were 84,461 new vehicles sold in Australia last month, which was only 0.4 per cent, or 300 units, more than during July of last year.

The Toyota Hilux remained the highest-selling model in July with 6,441 units, according to the figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). 

Next up was Ford’s Ranger on 2,934, with the top five completed by Toyota’s RAV4 on 2,437 sales, Mazda’s CX-5 with 2,346 and Hyundai’s Tucson, pictured, recording 2,186 sales.

Toyota also topped the marques’ ladder last month after selling 19,565 new vehicles. Mazda was second with 7,879, followed by Hyundai on 6,792, Kia with 6,711 and Mitsubishi on 5,611.

July’s activity took the year-to-date total to 622,319, which was made up of 120,590 passenger cars, 326,465 SUVs, 149,242 light commercials and 26.022 heavy commercials.

Tony Weber, FCAI’s chief executive, says the relatively flat result last month compared to this time last year shows the market has not normalised since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Vehicle and component manufacturing operations remain affected by plant shutdowns caused by Covid-19,” he explains. 

“Logistics, including shipping, remain unpredictable. While small growth on the same month in 2021 is encouraging, we do not expect the supply of vehicles to Australia to stabilise in the near future.

“Once again Australia is following the global trend of demand for new vehicles exceeding supply.”