In our first piece covering August’s new car sales, we looked into overall sales across the industry as well as a breakdown by vehicle segment. This time around we’ll focus on how different makes and models fared last month.
New car sales by brand
With a 21.6% market share, and the number one bestseller in each of the SUV, passenger, and light commercial vehicle categories, Toyota remains the number one brand to catch. It posted more than 20,000 sales last month, an improvement of 3.3% versus the prior corresponding period.
Meanwhile, Mazda and Kia bridged the gap, with their growth coming in at 15.4% and 33.9% respectively. Sales for the former reached nearly 9,000 units in August, while Kia (6,780 units) just pipped its sister brand in Hyundai, which secured 6,643 new car sales thanks to growth of 32.4%. It was a similar story for Mitsubishi, in sixth spot, with sales growth of 32.9% leading to 6,380 sales.
However, the clear talking point last month was the inaugural debut of Tesla in the top ten. Ranking seventh, Tesla reported 3,397 vehicles as delivered in August, with the auto-maker taking stock of several deliveries of new vehicles recently.
M.G. slid one spot to eighth, a byproduct of Tesla’s stunning result, as well as moderating growth for the Chinese brand after a stellar period throughout the pandemic. The top ten was rounded out by Subaru, with sales down 8.4%, and Mercedes-Benz, which posted a 22.1% increase in registrations.
New car sales by model
The Toyota HiLux, with sales up nearly 40% year-over-year to 6,214 units, extended its lead over the Ford Ranger, which finished the month in second spot thanks to 4,497 sales.
Becoming a familiar sight in third, the Toyota RAV4 is one of the most sought-after vehicles across the new car market, with both its hybrid and conventional powertrains drawing the interest of new car buyers. Nonetheless, overall sales for the model were down 22% due to a high comparison period this time last year when the new RAV4 was released. Supply issues also remain a challenge.
It is a different story for the Tesla Model 3 sedan, which was the fourth best-selling car in Australia last month. In total, 2,380 Model 3 vehicles were sold in August, while over 1,000 Model Y vehicles were paired up with new owners across the country.
Elsewhere, it is a tight race among the other leaders in the new car market, with the Mazda CX-5 ahead of the Toyota Corolla, and then a narrow gap between it and the Mitsubishi Triton, Hyundai i30, Isuzu D-Max, and Toyota Prado.
The top 10 looked like this:
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