Australia July 2021: MG ZS breaks into Top 10 in market up 16.1%, NSW down just -1.7% despite lockdown

MG ZS sales are up 446.2% year-on-year in Australia in July.

Now updated with the Top 292 All-models ranking.

New car sales in Australia surge 16.1% year-on-year in July to 84.161 units to sign the largest July volume since 2018. This leads to a year-to-date tally up 26.5% to 651.629 units, also the largest at this stage of the year since 2018. Private sales follow the market at +16.7% year-on-year to 43.770 units, while business fleets only edge up 7.2% to 30.147. Rental sales soar 231.4% to 4.461 and government fleets drop -14.4% to 2.255. The rest (3.528 units, up 21.7%) is accounted by heavy trucks and doesn’t have a dedicated channel. SUV sales trail the market slightly at +14.9% to 42.020 and 49.9% share vs. 50.4% a year ago and 42.8% in July 2018 whereas light commercials (including “utes”, Australian slang for pickups) surge 40.9% to 20.994 and 24.9% share vs. 20.5% in June 2020. Passenger cars continue their decline at -2.9% to 17.619 and 20.9% share vs. 25% in June 2020 and 33.4% in June 2018.

Looking at different states and territories, New South Wales is down -1.7% to 23.923 which is actually a much better result than expected given the current lockdown in Greater Sydney. It remains the largest state in the country above Victoria up 34.1% to 23.445, Queensland up 26.1% to 19.107 and Western Australia up 22.4% to 8.860. Then we have South Australia up 4.9% to 4.986, Tasmania up 17.7% to 1.528, Australian Capital Territory down -11.2% to 1.406 due to inflated year-ago volumes triggered by insurance claims following severe storms and Northern Territory up 39% to 906. When counting new car sales based on country of origin, Japan is up 9.5% to 26.790, Thailand up 17.7% to 19.015, South Korea up 11% to 10.529, China continues to surge at a whopping +188% to 6.789 and that’s without Shanghai-made Teslas as the manufacturer still refuses to communicate Australian sales, and Germany down -13% to 4.065.

No surprises atop the brands ranking with Toyota (+13.8%) in charge, lodging a market share identical to YTD at 21%. Mazda (+14.3%) remains in second place and Ford (+21.8%) manages a third spot for the second month running and only the third time in the past 9 years (add October 2012). Mitsubishi (+13.2%) follows at #4 while Kia (+12.5%) outsells sister brand Hyundai (+9.2%) for the third consecutive month. Below Volkswagen (+3.5%), Isuzu Ute (+156.4%) hits new records for ranking (#8) and share (4%) on the back of stunning sales by the new generation D-Max. MG (+197.1%) does even better to deliver a fifth Top 10 finish in the past 6 months. Below, GWM (+298.2%) soars to a record #13 and 2.4% share, with Genesis (+281.8%), Bentley (+212.5%), Land Rover (+178.4%), Mini (+68%), LDV (+66.5%), Jaguar (+65%), Fiat (+62.3%) and Lexus (+47.1%) also impressive.

Model-wise, the Toyota Hilux (+56.4%) surges ahead to reclaim the top spot it holds year-to-date, outclassing its archenemy the Ford Ranger (+30.9%) with both models above their YTD market shares. Note the Hilux 4×4 variant also outsells the Ranger 4×4 at 3.790 vs. 3.683 units. The Toyota Corolla (+15.6%) trails the market slightly but rallies back up seven spots on June to #3 while the Isuzu D-Max (+244.3%) sports a surreal year-on-year gain to end the month inside the Top 4 for the third consecutive time. The Mazda CX-5 (+38.3%) repeats as the #1 SUV, followed by the Toyota RAV4 (-45.6%) which led the market a year ago. Exceptional month for the Toyota Prado (+189%) in 7th pace overall, distancing the Hyundai i30 (+9.7%) and Mitsubishi Outlander (+81.2%). But the big news this month is the MG ZS breaking into the Australian Top 10 for the first time at #10 thanks to sales up a whopping 446.2% or more than 5-fold on July 2020. Other strong gainers below include the MG3 (+94.9%), Isuzu MU-X (+56.9%), Toyota Land Cruiser PU/CC (+39.6%), Nissan Navara (+38.8%) and Kia Cerato (+26.3%). The Kia Stonic is up 14 spots on June to lead recent launches at #26 above the GWM Ute (#28) and VW T-Roc (#30).

Previous month: Australia June 2021: Ford Ranger #1, Isuzu D-Max up to record #3, Chinese up 178.6%

One year ago: Australia July 2020: Toyota RAV4 scores first win, market pulled -12.8% by Melbourne lockdown

Full July 2021 Top 46 All-brands and Top 292 All-models below.