Marketplace

The post EOFY slump sets in

HIGHLIGHTS Despite a general market downturn, there were some segment winners such as micro cars (up 31.8%) on the back of Kia Picanto, small SUVS (3.4%) driven by Mazda CX-3, Nissan Qashqai and Mitsubishi ASX, respectively, 4x4 utes (6.4%) – Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger topped the total market yet again – and upper large SUVS (4.1%) on the strength of the Toyota Landcruiser.

LOWLIGHTS: In textbook post-eofy fashion the total market volume fell, by 34 percent, from 130,300 units to 85,551 in the wake of the rush to June 30. Passenger and SUV sales, not surprisingly, did the same, falling 33 percent from 97,723 units to 65,172. Yet the figures also represent a decline of 7203 vehicles or 7.8 percent compared with July 2017, and the first time in 2018 that total market sales have slipped below record-setting pace. The large (-53.6%), medium (-31.3%), sports (-38.2%) and upper large (-46.1%) segments brought most of the decline.