Toyota HiLux leads sales race as Holden continues to fall

The August vehicle sales figures published by VFACTS show that Toyota sold almost as many HiLux units as Holden did from its entire range.

Specifically, Toyota moved 4275 HiLux pick-ups and 18,833 vehicles overall, which is a 1.7 per cent total sales increase for the brand over August last year.

In comparison, Holden dropped 37.7 per cent to 4356 total sales, with every model in its range plummeting in the showrooms.

The Commodore took the biggest hit, falling 67 per cent to just 682, which is partly due to the fact that locally-built models are steadily becoming fewer and further between.

Holden's poor performance was no doubt a contributing factor to the Australian market's slight sales drop of 1.5 per cent, with 95,221 vehicles sold locally in August.

The market saw a 13.4 per cent drop in passenger-car sales and a 1.9 per cent slip in the light-commercial sector, but was cushioned by steady gains in the SUV category.

Australians bought 41,271 SUVs last month, an 8.3 per cent rise compared to August 2017, and a 9.0 per cent rise year-to-date, with the Mazda CX-5 (2599 units +26.9 per cent) and the Toyota Prado (2019, +79.1 per cent) among the biggest winners.

While Toyota rocketed ahead in the sales race, second-placed Mazda did well to sell 10,740 vehicles last month, up 26.2 per cent, with significant gains for its Mazda3 small car, CX-5 medium SUV, Mazda2 light car and BT-50 ute.

Hyundai squeezed onto the podium with a 2.6 per cent rise to 8006 unit sales, with Mitsubishi hot on its heels with a 6.3 per cent rise to 7067 units.

A bad month for Ford saw the brand drop 10.3 per cent to move just 5962 vehicles, though it still fell over the line ahead of Volkswagen (4637, -2.0 per cent), Kia (4620, +2.5 per cent) and Nissan (4440, +8.4 per cent). 

Just as Toyota outed its new-generation model, the Corolla small car took first place in the passenger car category with 3033 sales.

Following behind the best-selling HiLux in the pick-up segment, Ford sold 3515 Rangers and Mitsubishi took third with 1742 Triton sales.

Despite dropping 11.5 per cent to 2595 sales, Mercedes-Benz took the luxury segment crown, followed by BMW (1760, -12.2 per cent)  and Audi (1067, -25.8 per cent).

Does Holden's poor sales performance affect your opinion of the brand? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.