April quiet for new car sales

Last month’s count down on March and less than for April 2024.

APRIL wasn’t a kind month for new car sales, with a combined ute, van and car tally down 2335 units on March.

Last month’s performance was also 28 units short of the count for April of 2024, a desultory month in its own right.

The total passenger accrual from January 1 to the end of April comes to 29,585 units, a 5.2 percent reduction on same period in 2024.

Toyota remained the top performer with 1334 units, but there be no celebration, as that count was almost 20 percent less than its count for April in 2024.

Mitsubishi placed second last month with 693 registrations, followed by Kia with 548 units, Suzuki on 332 and MG with 301.

The top selling individual passenger model was once again the Toyota RAV4, with 697 registrations, followed by two Mitsubishi cars, the ASX on 329 and the Outlander on 253.

Commercial vehicle registrations are also down year on year and now Toyota is ahead, beating Ford which dominated last year, but is now back in second. The Ford Ranger nonetheless held as the top commercial choice in April, with 674 units, with Toyota Hilux just 30 behind. Nissan’s runout campaign for Navara delivered 218 units, enough to make it the third best selling ute.

RAV4 dominated the hybrid count, with Outlander and MG ZS also showing solidly, but the fully electric sector was again poor, with BYD, the best among those.