New 4×4 sales continued their slide in August 2020 as the industry calls for an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
New 4×4 sales are down again and, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) VFACTS service, new vehicle sales overall in August 2020 revealed a continuing downturn in the Australian automotive industry, especially in Victoria where COVID-19 Stage 4 Restrictions have seen a 65.9 per cent downturn for the month.
“The industry has moved swiftly to implement robust COVIDSafe protocols to ensure the health and wellbeing of employees and customers is preserved,” Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said. “However, it is particularly difficult for our members and their Victorian dealer networks under the current Stage 4 Restrictions, and this is reflected in the reduced sales figures.”
“While we have the utmost respect for essential health priorities, the automotive industry supports the re-opening of our economy under appropriate COVIDSafe protocols,” Mr Weber said.
Nationwide, a total of 60,986 new vehicle sales were reported in August 2020, which is down 28.8 per cent on August 2019 (85,633 sales). Year to date, 575,906 new vehicle sales have been recorded, which is down 20.4 percent on the same period last year (723,283 sales).
Toyota was the best-selling manufacturer in August 2020 with 20.4% of the market, but the best-selling 4×4 vehicle was the Ford Ranger, which recorded 2718 sales for the month.
4×4 sales
The Ford Ranger once again topped the 4×4 sales charts, with Ford selling 2718 units in August 2020, bringing Ranger 4×4’s year-to-date tally to 22,923 vehicles. The August figure was only down slightly on Ranger’s July 2020 sales figure of 2884.
The second best-selling 4×4 was the Mitsubishi Triton, which notched up 1278 sales in August, and in doing so moving ahead of the Toyota HiLux for the month. In the first eight months of the year the Triton 4×4 now sits on 10,914 sales.
The HiLux held on to third in the 4×4 sales race in August, with the downturn for the month likely due to stock issues as Toyota wound down inventory in anticipation of the new facelifted 150kW/500Nm model which was launched last week. HiLux 4×4 recorded 936 sales for the month and sits on 20,263 in year-to-date terms.
The Isuzu D-MAX 4×4 was another vehicle to record a sharp downturn in August 2020, recording just 145 sales for the month compared to 841 sales in July. Like HiLux, this sales downturn is likely due to a rundown of stock prior to the launch of the all-new D-MAX a couple of weeks ago.
The LandCruiser topped the 4×4 wagon sales chart, notching up 893 sales for the month ahead of the Isuzu MU-X (494 sales) and the Toyota Prado (779 sales).
The FCAI is obviously keen to see the economy start to get moving again, with Tony Weber commenting, “We’ve seen 29 consecutive months of diminishing sales in this industry, and there’s no doubt our members are feeling the pinch. The move to commence the reopening of industry and markets, especially in Victoria, needs to start as soon as possible.”
Top 10 4X4 Ute Sales August 2020 (July 2020)
- Ford Ranger: 2718 (2799)
- Mitsubishi Triton: 1278 (1392)
- Toyota HiLux: 936 (2051)
- Nissan Navara: 770 (724)
- Toyota LandCruiser PU/CC: 740 (705)
- Volkswagen Amarok: 533 (695)
- Mazda BT-50: 433 (740)
- LDV T-60: 420 (437)
- Isuzu D-Max: 145 (485)
- Ram 1500 Express 138 (102)
Top 5 4X4 Wagon Sales August 2020 (July 2020)
- Toyota LandCruiser 200: 893 (479)
- Isuzu MU-X: 597 (622)
- Toyota Prado: 494 (779)
- Mitsubishi Pajero Sport: 424 (510)
- Ford Everest: 447 (411)
