VFACTS JULY 2021: New car sales defy lockdowns and parts shortages

Australian’s new-car sales defied multi-state lockdowns and the continuing computer chip shortage to post a respectable result in July.

Registrations in New South Wales were still highest, dropping less than two per cent compared with July 2020 despite the state being under heavy restrictions for the entire month.

An overall market total of 84,161 sales represented a 16 per cent improvement on July 2020, and a slightly stronger result than the last pre-Covid July in 2019 (83,184).

Light-commercial vehicles and SUVs drove the growth. The LCV segment comprising utes and vans was up 41 per cent to 20,994 units and SUVs increased 15 per cent to 42,020 units. Both segments have increased 34 per cent year on year.

Passenger cars continue to struggle, decreasing three per cent month on month to 17,619 units and up only six per cent year to date.

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2021 Toyota HiLux

Utes were again the dominant segment, accounting for 18,835 sales. The next most popular vehicle type was medium SUVs with 13,384 units, though the segment took a hit in July – down 15 per cent after some of the market’s most notable nameplates suffered significant falls.

Sales of the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Nissan X-Trail, Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4 plummeted by between 39 and 70 per cent compared with July 2020.

Other SUV segments fared well: light SUVs had the biggest segment growth in July, up 88 per cent to 4548 units; small SUVs rose 21 per cent to 11,011 sales; large SUV sales increased 41 per cent to 11,892 units and upper large SUVs jumped 44 per cent to 1185 sales.

The micro-sized large car segment shrank by 41 per cent month on month, and sportscars also suffered last month with a 28 per cent decrease.

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2021 Ford Ranger

“[July's] growth of 16.1 per cent shows the underlying strength, confidence and resilience in the market in spite of the challenges being presented due to lockdowns and ongoing delivery issues caused by microprocessor shortages and shipping delays,” said Tony Weber, Chief Executive of industry body the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

Victoria almost matched NSW for sales in July, with a 34 per cent month-on-month increase taking it to within 478 units of Australia’s most populous state.

The Northern Territory had the biggest growth of any state, albeit from a much smaller base – up 39 per cent to 906 sales.

The ACT, despite avoiding lockdowns, was the worst-performing state, down 11 per cent to 1406 units.

Read on for more details about July’s top 10 models and top 10 brands.

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2021 Toyota Corolla

Top 10 models

The Ranger and HiLux utes continue to trade positions at the top of Australia’s vehicle charts, with the Toyota reclaiming the number one position for July.

The HiLux has been the best-selling model for five of the seven months of 2021 so far and leads the year-to-date table from the Ranger by more than 3000 units.

Isuzu’s category rival, the D-Max, couldn’t match its remarkable third spot achieved in June but was still an impressive fourth, as sales continue to be fired up by the new-generation model introduced in late 2020.

The Mitsubishi Triton, however, dropped out of a top 10 position for the first time this year, with 1580 units its lowest monthly sales figure of 2021 to date.

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2021 Isuzu D-Max

The Corolla almost suffered the shock of falling outside the top 10 in June, but carried the torch for small cars in July by taking the final podium spot. Last month’s 2535 registrations were the Corolla’s second-best result of 2021 so far, behind March’s 2892 units.

July was another month this year where only two small cars made it into the top 10, with the Corolla again joined by the Hyundai i30.

The Toyota Prado continues the presence it’s had in the monthly top 10 tables since April.

While the Triton dropped out of the top rankings last month, Mitsubishi at least had the compensation of its Outlander mid-sized SUV making a rare top 10 appearance – placing ninth thanks to an 81 per cent increase in sales compared with July 2020.

China’s MG brand has already appeared among the top 10 manufacturers in 2021, but in July its ZS became its first model to feature in the top 10 models chart. Sales of the compact SUV have skyrocketed during the past 12 months, up nearly 450 per cent compared with July 2020 – and up 436 per cent year to date.

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2022 Toyota LandCruiser Prado

Top 10 models: July 2021

Top 10 models: 2021 year to date

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2021 Mazda CX-5

Top 10 brands

The biggest shock last month? Nissan failed to make into the top 10. The Japanese brand has pretty much been a permanent fixture in the manufacturer charts, but its lowest monthly result of 2021 so far – just 2691 units – dumped it into 11th position.

The main beneficiary was Mercedes-Benz, which made its first appearance in the monthly highlights since February.

MG couldn’t match its brilliant June result of 4303 sales, though the company still secured another top 10 placing for 2021 – with its July sales nearly triple those of July 2020. It sits in the overall, year-to-date top 10, just ahead of Subaru which was 12th in July – its second consecutive month outside the top 10 chart.

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2022 Hyundai i30

Isuzu Ute continues an astonishing year, propelled by massive growth for its new-generation D-Max ute and now further bolstered by the just-launched MU-X SUV. With more than 3300 registrations in July, month-on-month sales are up more than 150 per cent.

Ford placed third for the second month in row, threatening to overtake Hyundai for the same position in the year-to-date chart – less than 250 units behind.

Sixth place in July is the Korean brand’s joint-worst monthly position, as it held the same place in May. Hyundai was the third most popular brand in Australia for the first four months of 2021.

Sister brand Kia is also in the mix with 43,096 units so far this year, adding a further 5202 sales last month.

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2021 MG ZS

Top 10 brands: July 2021

Top 10 brands: 2021 year to date

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The 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander will come as a PHEV

In charts

July 2021 - Top 10 models

July 2021: YTD sales top 10

July 2021 - Overall segment sales

July 2021-2020 Category sales

July 2021-2020 YTD Category sales