May was a huge month for new car sales figures in Australia, with a 70% spike recorded against the same month last year. This bumper month isn’t just impressive compared to last year, either: it’s the biggest May since 2017, and it may yet be eclipsed by June sales figures due to EOFY deals. This is a promising sign of recovery for the new vehicle market – when pandemic lockdowns hit last year, it briefly collapsed as we cancelled road trips and stayed in our own suburb.
So which manufacturers and models are coming out on top in this period of unprecedented change and uncertainty?
Car brands with best new car sales figures
Industry commentators were unsurprised to see Toyota topping the charts of sales during May 2021. Toyota beat the competition in nine different vehicle segments with its 20-model lineup. It recorded over 21,000 new vehicle sales during the month, claiming an impressive one-fifth share of the market for itself.
In second place was Mazda, which recorded 86% growth during May, with particular success in its SUV models. In fact, the Mazda CX-30 posted its strongest monthly sales result ever, with nearly 1,500 of them sold during May. The CX-30 only narrowly missed out on first place in the SUV Small category to the MG ZS range.
Third in the ranks was Kia, a surprising entrant to the top three with over 7,100 cars sold during May. This meant overcoming stiff competition from Hyundai, which recorded impressive monthly sales of its Cerato, Picanto and Sorento models but placed sixth in new car sales figures in May behind Ford and Mitsubishi in fourth and fifth.
Top-selling vehicle models in May 2021
An impressive five of the top 10 in highest-selling vehicle models were utes, with the national favourite Toyota HiLux taking first place.
The top 10 new vehicle models sold during May were:
- Toyota HiLux
- Ford Ranger
- Toyota RAV4
- Isizu D-Max
- Toyota LandCruiser
- Mazda CX-5
- Mitsubishi Triton
- Toyota Prado
- Toyota Corolla
- Hyundai i30
As the highest selling ute and vehicle in its ICE form, the HiLux clearly isn’t losing popularity. Would an electric HiLux dominate the market in the same way?
If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people enjoying a set of brand new wheels, make sure you maintain the warranty with regular log book services. Drop into your local Express Lube and let our mechanics take care of the rest!
