The strength in the Australian new vehicle market continued with a new July record of 99,486 sales, up 2.7% year on year and a new record for the month.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the result would have exceeded 100,000 if Tesla and Polestar sales were included in the VFACTS data.
“This is a remarkable achievement in an economy featuring widespread cost of living pressures,” he said.
“Consistent with trends in many overseas markets, sales of hybrid vehicles are up 88.4% and plug in hybrid vehicles are up 128.9% 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% of the market, down from 7% in 2023.
“The hybrid performance is highlighted by the fact that the Toyota RAV 4 was the top selling vehicle for the month ahead of Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. Most RAV 4 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,” Weber added.
Toyota was the market leader with sales of 22,705 in July, followed by Mazda (8,476), Ford (7,749,) Kia (6,620) and Hyundai (6,021).
The RAV4 was top selling vehicle with sales of 5,933 in July followed by Ford Ranger (4,915), Toyota HiLux (4,747), Toyota Corolla (2,688) and Toyota Landcruiser (2,464).
