The Toyota RAV4 SUV has continued to defy the current downturn in new car sales after being crowned Australia’s best selling vehicle for the second month in a row in August.

With stage four restrictions once again hampering the countries second-largest market in Victoria, new car sales in Australia took a 28.8 per cent decline in August, led by Victoria who suffered a 65.9 per cent drop.

A total of 60,986 vehicles were sold for the month according to the latest VFACTs figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), taking the national yearly total to 575,906 sales, well down on 2019’s 723,283 sales through August.

However, while declining sales has affected much of the industry, Toyota’s most popular SUV, the RAV4, which comes in both petrol and petrol-electric hybrid vehicle (PHEV) variants, has witnessed remarkable growth.

The RAV4 recorded 4,825 sales in August, a staggering rise of 140.5 per cent, to claim the crown of Australia’s best selling vehicle for the month for just the second time ever.

The number of units sold has been boosted in the past two months thanks to increased shipments of the vehicle coming in to fill a backlog of orders that reached a 10-month wait time earlier this year.

And while the popular Toyota model has experienced record sales thanks to additional stock, another fan favourite has gone in the opposite direction due to a stock runout.

Australia’s favourite vehicle in each of the last four years, the HiLux ute, took a 66.9 per cent hit to sales in August as dealers faced lengthy delays for stock with the updated model being released.

1,217 HiLux utes were sold for the month, placing the model a disappointing ninth in the monthly top-selling model list.

The Hilux’s rival, the Ford Ranger, fared much better in August, outselling all except the RAV4 to finish with 2,935 sales (down 7.7 per cent).

Mazda appeared to avoid the worst of the decline, with the CX-5 and CX-3 models both climbing up the charts on the back of a sales increase. The CX-5 SUV model finished in third place with 1,884 sales (up 4.8 per cent), while sales of the CX-3 SUV rose by 3.6 per cent to 1,355, good for seventh.

Toyota reinforced its position as most popular brand despite the poor month from the HiLux and a25.5 per cent decline in sales across the brand, selling 12,449 vehicles to hold a 20.4 per cent market share.

Mazda held onto its second-place position with 6,921 sales, a 5.1 per cent drop.

The battle between Hyundai and its sister brand Kia continues to blaze. With Kia temporarily overtaking Hyundai earlier this year, Hyundai came out ahead in August by the slimmest of margins, selling 4,525 vehicles to Kia’s 4,521, a difference of just four vehicles.

The gulf in popularity between SUVs and Passenger Vehicles also continues to widen. 32,378 SUVs were sold in August, making up 53.1 per cent of all vehicles sold, compared to the 14,758 Passenger Vehicles sold.

 

Top 5 Brands – August 2020

1. Toyota – 12,449 (down 25.5 per cent)
2. Mazda – 6,921 (down 5.1 per cent)
3. Hyundai – 4,525 (down 38.2 per cent)
4. Kia – 4,521 (down 3 per cent)
5. Mitsubishi – 4,308 (down 31 per cent)

Top 5 Models – August 2020

1. Toyota RAV4 – 4,825 (up 140.5 per cent)
2. Ford Ranger – 2,935 (down 7.7 per cent)
3. Mazda CX-5 – 1,884 (up 4.8 per cent)
4. Toyota Corolla – 1,464 (down 48.9 per cent)
5. Hyundai i30 – 1,429 (down 49.2 per cent)

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries

8 September 2020