‘Signs of confidence returning’
The Motor Industry Association (MIA) says positive sales figures for light commercials last month helped the new-vehicle market hold steady after an increase in June.
A total of 11,671 new vehicles were registered in July, down slightly from 11,862 in June when sales jumped 26 per cent month-on-month.
As for the year-on-year change, July’s performance was up 23.8 per cent from the 9,419 units registered in the same month of 2024.
Aimee Wiley, MIA’s chief executive, says the continued uplift is welcome and encouraging but predicts it will take several more months of similar sales levels before an improving trend can be confirmed.
“It has been a challenging 18 months for our members in tight economic conditions, so it is good to see July sales holding steady with the June increase,” adds Wiley, pictured.
“It’s a sign that there may be some early signs of confidence returning to the new vehicle market, but it’s probably too soon to break out the champagne just yet.”
Last month’s figures show light passenger vehicles and SUVs accounted for 7,635 sales, down from 8,245 in June.
Offsetting that result was the performance of commercial vehicles. The 3,532 light commercial sales last month were up from 3,204 in June, and heavy commercials increased from 413 to 504 over the same period.
The MIA notes the corresponding figures for July 2024 were 6,339 for light passenger vehicles, 2,500 for light commercials and 580 for heavy vehicles.
Sales of battery electric vehicles failed to share the market’s overall upwards momentum and the 638 registered last month was down from 1,073 in June. Tesla’s Model Y was the leading model in this category on 103 units.
Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) recorded 749 sales, compared with 912 in June, and were led by the BYD Sealion 6 on 109 registrations.
In contrast, hybrid vehicles maintained their run of increases with July’s 3,434 sales up from 3,152 in the previous month.
Toyota’s RAV4 was the top-selling hybrid last month with 602 units, followed by the Suzuki Fronx on 347.
