New car sales July 2015: Another record, with Toyota Corolla back on top

TWO months, two milestones: record sales for July saw Australians buy 92,308 vehicles, extending the new-car frenzy that generated historically high figures in June.

That was an increase of 2.7 percent on July last year, or 2443 vehicles – more than 90 additional cars sold per day. It was the best July result on record.

The Toyota Corolla resumed its position as the best-selling car for the month with 3573 sales, shadowed by the Mazda 3 (2825) and Hyundai i30 (2750).

A shake-up in June had seen the i30 on top by some margin, but in July sales settled into more familiar patterns. That meant a fall from June’s 125,850 sales spike as the financial year ended.

Passenger car sales are down 3.0 percent for the calendar year so far. But the total new vehicle market is up 3.2 percent for the year, driven by SUVs and commercial vehicles.

The top two commercials, the Toyota HiLux and Mitsubishi Triton, stand in fourth and fifth place for sales of all vehicles.

Australia’s penchant for SUVs shows no sign of waning, with total SUV numbers up 13.7 percent this year. Every other passenger car segment has sold fewer cars this year than last year.

Toyota remains Australia’s best-selling brand, with 118,554 sales for the first seven months of the year, well ahead of next-best Mazda (65,947), third-placed Holden (59,632) and fourth-placed Hyundai (58,610).

Holden slipped to fourth overall brand for July. Among models, the Holden Commodore, a regular podium finisher, dropped to sixth with 2030 sales. The Commodore was outsold by the Mazda CX-5 (2223) and the Toyota Camry (2124), as well as the Corolla, Mazda 3 and Hyundai i30.

Ford placed fifth, with 40,557 sales for the year and 5747 for the month. The Ranger continues its strong sales but the new Mondeo (161 sold) is yet to make an impact. After Ranger, the locally built Territory (871) and Falcon were Ford’s best sellers. Impressively, the Falcon posted an increase over its June sales of 531 cars, with 625 sedans sold in July.

The standout contests of 2015 so far include the feud between Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. All three are up but it’s Mercedes on top – and not only in sheer volume with 20,941 sales, but with an impressive 19.5 percent growth for the year.

BMW follows, with 14,613 sales and 14.6 percent growth, while Audi’s 13,103 sales represent 17.0 percent growth.

Honourable mentions must also go to Lexus (+30.3 percent YTD), Mitsubishi (+8.8 percent), Mazda (+10.0 percent) and Kia (+9.4 percent). All have outperformed the market so far this year, as has Skoda, with sales up 26.5 percent at 2777 year-to-date.

Porsche is kicking goals, too, with its 2458 for the year up from 1565 this time last year – a 57.1 percent rise. That’s ahead of key new models expected over the next 18 months: updated versions of its bedrock 911, and more affordable Boxster/Cayman twins.

Porsche’s growth can’t match that of Ferrari, which has posted a 72.6 per cent increase for the year with 107 sales. That’s already more than its 2013 total (106) and close to last year’s full-year sales of 113.

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