HILUX EXTENDS SALES LEAD

The Toyota Hilux retains its comfortable lead as the best-selling 4x4 on the Australian new car market at the halfway point of the year, recording a dominant June in the showrooms. Toyota managed to shift 5355 examples of its popular Hilux ute in the last month of the financial year, despite the market going through its worst June since 2011.

Even without taking the stellar 100 per cent increase in sales of the 4x2 Hilux, the sales performance of the 4x4 resulted in a 24.5 per cent rise in deliveries over June last year, contributing to 23,852 utes finding homes before July.

While the Ford Ranger's 18,285 year-to-date sales means it remains in touch of the Hilux, the 2547 registrations throughout June equalled less than half of its rival, representing a 54.6 per cent year-on-year drop. For Ford, the new Ranger can't arrive soon enough if it wants to get back in the hunt.

Isuzu's D-MAAX moved up to third for the month, displacing the Toyota Prado from the last spot thanks to its 1953 units shifted, sitting ahead of the fourthplaced Mitsubishi Triton – which recorded 1633 sales. Triton is the quiet achiever of the year, currently taking the third spot on the year-to-date standings with 15,028 registrations, just ahead of the Prado's 12,978 and almost 5000 clear of the D-max's 10,356 sales.

Prado continued to be the best selling Landcruiser-badged model with another top-five results for the month, although its 1578 units shifted was only 60 sales more than the Landcruiser 300 Series, making hay while the sun is shining on its Japanese plant.

A surprise inclusion to the top 10 is the GWM Ute, with 1273 sales for the month, managing to beat established rivals, such as the Landcruiser 79 Series (1265 sales), Ford Everest (1234 sales) and Isuzu MU-X (1074 sales).

Previously present in the top 10 over the past two months, both the Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport failed to make the cut in June, recording just 746 and 704 sales respectively – less than the 11th-placed Mazda BT-50.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Chief Executive Tony Weber said the wider market is facing ongoing supply shortages owing to a number of external factors.

“Globally, carmakers are continuing to suffer from plant shutdowns,” said Weber. “In Europe we have component supply heavily impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. Microprocessors continue to be in short supply and global shipping remains unpredictable.

“While demand for new cars remains strong in Australia, it is unlikely we will see supply chain issues resolve in the near future.”