Australian new car sales drop in 2018

The annual new car sales figures for 2018 have been released today, showing that Australians bought 1,153,111 new vehicles last year, representing a drop of around three per cent.

With 36,005 fewer cars sold than in 2017, sales in almost every passenger car segment dropped in 2018, as the ubiquitous SUVs boomed.

In 2008 the SUV segment accounted for 19.2 per cent of all new car sales in Australia – now it's 43 per cent. There's been a significant shift in buyer tastes as SUVs and dual-cab utes become the dominant force, while passenger car sales slump to less than one third of the overall market for the first time.

Toyota is still the top-selling car brand in Australia, with a total of 217,061 sales, a sales lift of 0.2 per cent, while Holden continues to hemorrhage sales, dropping to 60,751 sales, down a whopping 32.7 per on 2017's sales of 90,306.

While Ford sales were also down by 11.6 per cent, its 69,081 units saw it overtake Holden sales for the first time in over 20 years.

The top two selling new cars in Australia in 2018 were both utes, with the Toyota HiLux taking top spot (51,705) and the Ford Ranger (42,144) coming in second place.

The Toyota Corolla (35,320), Mazda 3 (31,065) and Hyundai i30 (28,188) small cars completed the top five-selling new cars in Australia, showing there is still an appetite for small passenger cars in this country – despite all of them recording slight declines.

The LCV segment grew by more than two per cent, from 18.3 to 20.6 of the overall market, but the 3 per cent dip in annual new car sales has been influenced by several factors according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. These include the tightening of the money lending market, the ongoing drought and what some analysts are calling a 'challenging economy'.

Toyota HiLux: 51,705
Ford Ranger: 42,094
Toyota Corolla: 35,320
Mazda 3: 31,065
Hyundai i30: 28,188
Mazda CX-5: 26,173
Mitsubishi Triton: 24,896
Toyota RAV4: 22,165
Nissan X-Trail: 21,192
Volkswagen Golf: 19,076

Toyota: 217,061
Mazda: 111,280
Hyundai: 94,187
Mitsubishi: 84,944
Ford: 69,081
Holden: 60,751
Kia: 58,815
Nissan: 57,699
Volkswagen: 56,620
Honda: 51,525

Toyota offers five-year warranty

Toyota has finally made a play on its sub-par three-year warranty by offering a new five-year bumper-to-bumper warranty on all models sold since January 1, 2019.

In a bid to maintain its dominant sales lead in 2019, Toyota will extend its new five-year warranty to seven years for the powertrain - engine and gearbox - if owners get their cars 'logbook serviced' and genuine parts are used.