Record August for new car registrations

New car registrations in August 2018 were the highest on record, as strong rental sales and higher petrol prices saw the market shift towards smaller vehicles.

“August 2018 new vehicle registrations of 13,200 vehicles were up 1.0% (137 units) on August 2017," said Motor Industry Association CEO David Crawford. "It was the strongest month of August ever, nudging ahead of August 1984 by 43 units. Year to date, the market is up by 1.7 per cent (1,758 units) compared to the first eight months of 2017.”

"Registrations of 8,639 passenger and SUV vehicles for the month of August were up just 32 units on August 2017, an increase of 0.4 per cent and registrations of 4,561 commercial vehicles were up by 105 units (up 2.4 per cent) on August 2017.”

Toyota retained the overall market lead in August with 17 per cent market share (2,292 units, of which 607 units were rentals), followed by Ford with 11 per cent (1,428 units) and Mazda with 8 per cent market share (1,053 units).

Toyota also retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations with 15 per cent market share (1,334 units) followed by Mazda with 10 per cent (841 units) and Mitsubishi with 8 per cent market share (702 units).

In the commercial sector, Toyota retained the market lead with 21 per cent market share (958 units) followed by Ford with 20 per cent (908 units) and Holden third with 9 per cent market share (407 units).

The top selling model for the month of August was once again the Ford Ranger with 785 units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 693 units and then the Toyota Corolla with 597 units - including 381 rentals. Year to date, Toyota continues to dominate the rental market with the Toyota Corolla at the top of the table with 1,522 units followed by the Toyotas RAV4 (1,127 units) and the Toyota Highlander (851 units).

Read more: First look at all-new Toyota Corolla

“With the continued high price of petrol, we are starting to see a small but discernible shift towards smaller vehicles. The SUV Medium segment remains in as the top segment for the month of August with 16 per cent market share. This was followed by the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 with 14 per cent of the market, the SUV Compact with 14 per cent and small vehicles with 11 per cent market share” said Crawford.

Top 15 Vehicles Sales - August 2018