VFACTS: July sales set new record

BY MATT BROGAN | 5th Aug 2024

A MONTH into the new financial year and it appears the strength of Australia’s new car market is assured.

Total sales for the month have ‘officially’ fallen just shy of the 100,000 unit mark (99,486 sales), the result a 2.7 per cent improvement on the same month last year – which was the previous highest July on record.

However, the VFACTS results do not include Polestar or Tesla due to those electric-only brands walking away from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) over what were seen as regressive lobbying activities.

With the combined sales of those brands, the July result rises to 102,181 units.

Toyota was the market leader again in July, with total sales volume of 22,705 units. The Japanese importer led Mazda (8476), Ford (7749), Kia (6620), and Hyundai (6021), while also taking four of the top 10 model places for the month.

Sales of the Toyota RAV4 medium SUV reached 5933 units, toppling the Ford Ranger (4915), Toyota HiLux (4747), Toyota Corolla (2688), and Toyota LandCruiser (2464).

Looking across segment classes, SUV sales continued their dominance of the Australian new-vehicle market in July with 56,590 units sold.

Light commercial models placed second with 21,707 units ahead of passenger vehicles (17,291) and heavy commercials (3898).

On a state and territory basis, Western Australia increased by the largest percentage, up 8.9 per cent to 10,671 units ahead of Queensland (up 6.2 per cent to 20,937), the Northern Territory (up 4.9 per cent to 947), South Australia (up 4.7 per cent to 6921), and New South Wales (up 2.9 per cent to 30,361).

All other jurisdictions saw a decrease in July sales with Tasmania down a considerable 12.0 per cent to 1564, Victoria down 1.6 per cent to 26,667 and the Australian Captial Territory down 1.4 per cent to 1418.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the result would have exceeded 100,000 units if Polestar and Tesla were included in the VFACTS count.

“This is a remarkable achievement in an economy featuring widespread cost of living pressures,” he commented.

“It was also interesting to note that while sales in the business and government segments were up 13.7 and 37.5 per cent respectively, Private sales were down 4.2 per cent.

“Consistent with trends in many overseas markets, sales of hybrid vehicles are up 88.4 per cent and plug-in hybrid vehicles are up 128.9 per cent compared with July 2023.

“Sales of battery electric vehicles – with the inclusion of the reported Tesla (2592) and Polestar (103) results – are currently at 6.6 per cent of the market, down from 7.0 per cent in 2023.

“The hybrid (vehicle sales) performance is highlighted by the fact the Toyota RAV4 was the top-selling vehicle for the month ahead of Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, Most RAV4 sales are hybrids.

“While the first seven months of 2024 have exceeded expectations, the industry remains cautious about the future pending the implementation of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard coupled with the economic conditions,” he concluded.

Top 10 vehicle sales by make (July 2024):

Make	Sales	Share
Toyota	22,705	22.8%
Mazda	8476	8.5%
Ford	7749	7.8%
Kia	6620	6.7%
Hyundai	6021	6.1%
Mitsubishi	5718	5.7%
MG	4101	4.1%
Isuzu Ute	3821	3.8%
Subaru	3601	3.6%
GWM	3319	3.3%

Top 10 vehicle sales by model (July 2024):

Make/Model	Sales	Variance
Toyota RAV4	5933	+115.7%
Ford Ranger	4915	-4.4%
Toyota HiLux	4747	+1.6%
Toyota Corolla	2688	+25.3%
Toyota LandCruiser	2464	+16.1%
Isuzu D-Max	2369	+14.4%
Ford Everest	2162	+67.9%
Mitsubishi Outlander	2110	+18.7%
Mazda CX-5	2031	+25.7%
MG ZS	1815	-52.9%