Australia May 2021: Kia up to #3, Isuzu D-Max breaks records in market up 68.3%

The Isuzu D-Max is up to a record 4th place overall in Australia in May.

Now updated with the Top 289 All-models.

New vehicle sales in Australia surge 68.3% year-on-year on Covid-impacted year-ago volumes to 100.809 units, stopping just short of the all-time May record of 102.901 hit in 2017 and the highest May result since 2018. This is the 7th consecutive month of year-on-year gains after 31 months of decline. The year-to-date tally is now up 37.5% to 456.804 and on track to surpass 1 million units by the time the year comes to an end. SUV sales (+87.1%) significantly outpace the market to reach 53.605 units and 53.2% share vs. 47.8% a year ago, while light commercials are up 56.7% to 23.177 units and 23% share vs. 24.7% in May 2020 and Passenger cars underperform again at +46.1% to 20.218 units and 20.1% share vs. 23.1% a year ago.

Looking at sales by buyer type, private buyers pull the market up at +83.4% to 52.428 units with business sales up 47.8% to 36.543, rental sales up 347.2% to 5.500 and government sales down -7.9% to 2.529. Every state and territory is up this month, with Tasmania up 110%, Northern Territory up 83%, Western Australia up 78%, South Australia up 75%, New South Wales up 69%, Queensland up 67%, Victoria up 65% and ACT up 12%. As far as country of origin is concerned, Japan is up 76.9% to 35.457, Thailand up 46.5% to 21.457, South Korea up 101.9% to 14.014, China up a whopping 349.7% to 6.521 and Germany down -3.8% to 4.295.

In the brands ranking, Toyota (+46.2%) trails the market but remains ultra-dominant at 21% share vs. 21.4% so far this year. Mazda (+87.4%) remains in 2nd place at 10.5% vs. 10.6% year-to-date while Kia (+158.1%) climbs onto the Australian podium for only the second time after April 2020. It easily outsells Ford (+66.7%), Mitsubishi (+115.2%) and Hyundai (+57%), with the three carmakers fitting within less than 50 sales. In the remainder of the Top 10, Nissan (+94.4%) and Subaru (+75.3%) post very dynamic gains but the hero of the month is Isuzu Ute (+174.2%) breaking into the Top 10 for only the third time ever and hitting a new record #9 thanks to a new record volume at 3.946. MG (+428%) is knocked out of the Top 10 at #11 despite a gargantuan lift, while further down GWM (+357%), LDV (+169.4%), Skoda (+165.9%) and Volvo (+136.3%) stand out with triple-digit gains.

Model-wise, after being toppled by the Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4 in April, the Toyota Hilux (+24.8%) reclaims the top spot in May despite a very shy year-on-year uptick. The Ford Ranger (+59.7%) is down to #2 but still tops the 4×4 charts both for the month with 3.911 sales and year-to-date where it leads by just 15 units. The Toyota RAV4 (+71.2%) is back down to the #3 spot it holds year-to-date, while in 4th place overall the Isuzu D-Max breaks its ranking record (previous best was #5 in December 2018) as well as its volume record at 3.058 (previous best: 2.409 last December) and its share record at 3% (previous best 2.5% in December 2018 and 2020). All this despite supply challenges. The Toyota Land Cruiser (+121.8%) and Prado (+63%) continue to benefit from the “holiday at home” trend and rank at #5 and #8 respectively, both outselling all passenger cars out there. Indeed the Toyota Corolla (+34.7%) and Hyundai i30 (+78.6%) only feature at the bottom end of the Top 10 this month. Notice also the MG ZS breaking its ranking record at #12 and the Kia Stonic breaking into the Top 30 for the first time at #27.

Previous month: Australia April 2021: Ford Ranger tops charts, Toyota Land Cruiser up to record #4 in all-time record April volume

One year ago: Australia May 2020: Toyota, BMW, MG hold in lowest May score in 26 years (-35.3%)

Full May 2021 Top 45 All-brands and Top 289 All-models below.