Australian new car sales slumped again in March down 7.1% compared with the same month in 2018 – the HiLux, Ranger and Triton dominated the market.

Australians love SUVs but it seems we’re head over heels for light commercials with the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi dominating new car sales in March. Overall, sales in March followed February’s lead and slumped again compared to the same month last year (2018) with sales down 7.1% for a total of 99,442, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI said, “We are seeing a cautious consumer approach at the moment, and this is not surprising given the number of economic headwinds in the Australian market,” Weber said.

What was worse for the market was the fact that only three of the top 10 vehicles were passenger vehicles, with the other spots taken by SUVs and light commercials.

The three best-sellers were Toyota HiLux reporting 4527 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 3721 sales, and the Mitsubishi Triton which registered 2666 sales.

In March, SUVs and LCVs represented 67.5% of new vehicle sales in the Australian market during March. This is 4.5% higher than March 2018.

On a year-to-date basis, the industry reported 268,538 sales across all segments, down 7.9%. Individual segments were: Passenger Vehicles (84,200 vehicles – down 17.8%); SUVs (118,892 vehicles – down 3.5%); and Light Commercial segment (57,128 vehicles – down 0.4%).

Mitsubishi moved into third place in March as Hyundai fell to fourth with Toyota continuing to hold down top spot and Mazda in second. IN news that will likely shock no-one, Holden fell to 10th place, selling just 11,825 vehicles. The top 10 best-sellers in March: