New Car Sales Remain Slow

While there was a small bump in new car sales in August, overall the market remains suppressed. Registrations for August were up by 2.1 per cent (202 units) on the same month last year, though the MIA says the rise was ‘attributable to a surge in rental sales volumes up 71.2 per cent or 612 units compared to the same month last year’. 

Sales still down overall 

On a year-to-date basis, 2024 registrations are down 18.7 per cent or 18,846 units compared to 2023. 

Light passenger vehicle registrations in August totaled 6,765 units, a 3.0 per cent decrease compared to August 2023 and a 38.2 per cent drop from August 2022. Year-to-date, sales are down 26.4 per cent compared with 2023 (19,094 units) and 29.3 per cent lower than 2022 (22,085 units).

Average monthly Light Commercial vehicle registrations remain stable at 2,967 YTD, marginally above the 2,959 monthly units recorded in 2023.

Sales of battery electric vehicles remain slow (just 575 in August) and plug-in hybrids too (231). Both totals are significantly down compared with the same period last year. Hybrid sales (2435) remain constant while the Petrol and Diesel total of 6749 is greater by more than 1000 units compared with August 2023 and accounts for the decrease in BEVs and PHEVS. 

The top five BEV models in August were the Tesla Model Y (116 units), Nissan Leaf (59 units), MG 4 (39 units), BYD Atto 3 (36 units), and BYD Dolphin (28 units).

What were the best selling cars in August?

FORD RANGER 826
TOYOTA HILUX 687
TOYOTA RAV4 541
KIA SELTOS 308
MITSUBISHI ASX 286

Overall brand totals for August 

TOYOTA 2078
FORD 1187
MITSUBISHI 993
KIA 846
SUZUKI 451