Mazda and Toyota top SUV sales in July 2016

Mazda and Toyota remain the dominant forces in the increasingly-vital SUV market, with July sales figures revealing both Japanese brands share the top spots in each mainstream SUV sub-category.

Mazda owned the small and medium SUV segments in July with the Mazda CX-3 and Mazda CX-5, with the former holding off competition from Mitsubishi’s ageing (yet still popular) ASX and the Nissan Qashqai, while the CX-5 beat out the Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tucson for the midsize crown.

In the world of large SUVs Toyota reigned supreme with the Prado and Kluger, with the two seven-seaters taking first and second place respectively. However with 954 cars sold in July 2016 versus 1316 sold in July 2015, the Kluger has lost some steam in the showroom.

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Subaru’s Outback crossover wagon came in third for the large SUV segment with 877 cars, while the reborn Mazda CX-9 has nearly doubled its sales volume compared to July 2015 with 439 cars delivered last month; not enough to worry the likes of Toyota, Hyundai, Mitsubishi or Holden - yet.

The Toyota LandCruiser LC200 retained its stranglehold on the upper large SUV with 1214 sales in July 2016 – a huge 55 percent increase on last year’s July figure and substantially more than the Nissan Patrol’s 144 sales for last month.

More interesting movements happened in luxury SUVs. While BMW’s still-fresh X1 range continues to do great things in the ‘small SUV over $40k’ segment, soundly beating the Merc GLA and Audi Q3, the Bavarian automaker’s ever-popular X5 lost top billing in the large luxury SUV segment to the newer Audi Q7.

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The midsize luxury SUV race saw a new victor in the form of the Land Rover Discovery Sport rise to the top, with its 371-car sales tally eclipsing the Audi Q5 (340 sales) and BMW X3 (325 sales)

Overall, the SUV segment continues to grow in size and importance in Australia, recording 3.5 percent sales growth in July and 10.3 percent growth year-to-date.

Passenger car sales in July accounted for 41.6 percent of the market, down 3.3 percent against last year’s July sales numbers. SUVs, meanwhile, accounted for 37 percent of the total new-car market in July – an increase of 1.6 percent.

As passenger car sales continue to shrink and SUV market share maintains its upward trajectory, it’s conceivable that SUV sales may overtake those of regular hatches and sedans by the end of the year. The margin between the two has been even closer, however: in May, the passenger and SUV segments racked up 39.5 and 37.5 percent market share figures respectively.

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July 2016 Sales - SUVs

SUV small:

Mazda CX-3 – 1744
Mazda Mitsubishi ASX - 1130
Nissan Qashqai - 1061

SUV Small >$40k

BMW X1 – 313
Mercedes-Benz GLA – 245
Audi Q3 - 218

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SUV Medium

Mazda CX-5 – 1933
Toyota RAV4 – 1825
Hyundai Tucson – 1497

SUV Medium >$60k

Land Rover Discovery Sport – 371
Audi Q5 – 340
BMW X3 - 325

SUV Large

Toyota Prado – 1248
Toyota Kluger – 954
Subaru Outback – 877

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SUV Large >$70k

Audi Q7 – 389
BMW X5 – 322
Land Rover Discovery – 257

SUV Upper Large

Toyota Landcruiser LC200 – 1214
Nissan Patrol – 144
Mercedes-Benz GLS - 111