Australian vehicle sales for May 2021 (VFACTS)

New vehicle sales in Australia are continuing to rise, with May VFACTS figures revealing another 100,000-plus month. We saw a dip in April compared with March, in terms of total sales, but May becomes the biggest-selling month so far this year.

During May 2021, 100,809 new vehicles were registered in Australia (we’ll call them sales for brevity). That’s up from 92,347 in April, and up 68.3 per cent on the 59,894 vehicles sold in May last year. Obviously this time last year wasn’t a good period, considering May was pretty much the peak of coronavirus. Year-to-date, that’s 456,804 units, up 37.5 per cent on the same five-month period last year.

Of that total tally for May, NSW made up 32,818 units (up 69.1 per cent on May last year), Victoria contributed 25,368 units (up 65.1 per cent), and Queensland added 21,413 units (up 67.0 per cent). Tasmania, once again, experienced the biggest jump, with 1771 units up some 109.8 per cent on the same month last year.

As for the most popular vehicle brand? Toyota came through on top once again. It sold 21,156 cars, which is up 46.2 per cent for the month and up 30.7 per cent YTD.

Top 10 best-selling car brands in Australia

Mazda remains in its usual second spot, but further down Kia has jumped from sixth in April to third in May. Mitsubishi falls down to fifth spot. We also see Isuzu has rejoined the top 10, jumping into ninth, after MG took the final spot in April.

See below for the top 10 best-selling vehicle brands overall in Australia during May 2021. The figures in brackets are from the previous month.

1. Toyota – 21,156 (up from 20,208 in April 2021)
2. Mazda – 10,554 (up from 10,052)
3. Kia – 7,124 (up from 5707)
4. Ford – 6493 (down from 7146)
5. Mitsubishi – 6478 (down from 7513)
6. Hyundai – 6450 (up from 5772)
7. Nissan – 4307 (up from 3500)
8. Volkswagen – 4005 (up from 3123)
9. Isuzu – 3946 (up from 2849)
10. Subaru – 3547 (up from 3451)

Top 10 best-selling premium car brands in Australia

In the premium market, BMW sold the most vehicles in May, like in April when we first introduced this section. Interestingly, or uninterestingly, the complete top 10 lineup remain in their exact same positions from April. The other interesting thing is all brands reported a jump in sales from April, except Land Rover and Alfa Romeo. See below for the top 10 best-selling premium brands in Australia during May 2021:

1. BMW – 2707 (up from 2153 in April)
2. Mercedes-Benz – 2526 (up from 2151)
3. Audi – 1722 (up from 1281)
4. Lexus – 1028 (up from 909)
5. Volvo – 945 (up from 794)
6. Land Rover – 570 (down from 645)
7. Porsche – 556 (up from 354)
8. MINI – 424 (up from 276)
9. Jaguar – 145 (up from 94)
10. Alfa Romeo – 48 (down from 50)

Top 10 best-selling vehicles in Australia

The Toyota HiLux is back in the lead after losing out to the Ford Ranger in April. Although, that was a fairly uncommon occurrence even though the Ranger is often not far behind. In other areas, the Isuzu D-Max is up quite a few spots, to fifth, and the Toyota Prado jumps into the top 10, into eighth spot. The top 10 best-selling vehicles in Australia during May 2021 were as follows:

1. Toyota HiLux – 4402 (up from 4222)
2. Ford Ranger – 4254 (down from 5021)
3. Toyota RAV4 – 4014 (down from 4596)
4. Toyota LandCruiser – 3399 (up from 2595)
5. Isuzu D-Max – 3058 (up from 1999)
6. Mazda CX-5 – 2768 (up from 2353)
7. Mitsubishi Triton – 2317 (down from 2458)
8. Toyota Prado – 2214 (up from 1370)
9. Toyota Corolla – 2190 (up from 2073)
10. Hyundai i30 – 2127 (up from 2005)

Small Cars under $40,000

Into the humble small cars and it’s the Toyota Corolla that just edges out in front. And we mean just. The Hyundai i30 was only 63 units behind it. Both the Subaru WRX and Impreza moved up a couple of spots, while the Honda Civic drops down to eighth.

This segment saw 8774 sales overall for the month, which is up 28.7 per cent for the month but down 1.8 per cent YTD. See below for the top 10 best-selling small cars in Australia during May 2021:

1. Toyota Corolla – 2190 (up from 2073 in April 2021)
2. Hyundai i30 – 2127 (up from 2005)
3. Kia Cerato – 2052 (up from 1527)
4. Mazda3 – 1031 (down from 1072)
5. Subaru Impreza – 353 (up from 212)
6. Skoda Scala – 203 (up from 142)
7. Subaru WRX – 170 (up from 146)
8. Honda Civic – 132 (down from 228)
9. Ford Focus – 87 (up from 77)
10. Hyundai Ioniq – 54 (up from 30)

1. Mercedes-Benz A-Class – 321 (up from 215)
2. BMW 1 Series – 220 (up from 214)
3. BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe – 195 (down from 219)
4. Nissan LEAF – 42 (up from 31)
5. MINI Clubman – 37 (up from 20)

Medium Cars under $60,000

Here we see the trusty Toyota Camry maintaining its commanding lead. However, Hyundai has just launched its all-new Sonata N Line. It will be very interesting to see it goes over the coming months. Will it be able to topple the Mazda6 for second spot?

Overall class figures stand at 1722 units in May, which is up 33 per cent for the month and down 8.4 per cent YTD. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class during May 2021 were as follows:

1. Toyota Camry – 1369 (up from 1197 in April)
2. Mazda6 – 164 (up from 162)
3. Skoda Octavia – 126 (down from 176)
4. Volkswagen Passat – 53 (up from 39)
5. Peugeot 508 – 5 (equal)

Medium Cars over $60,000

Luxury fans seemed to flock to BMW showrooms in April, with most snapping up a 3 Series. Although, the Mercedes C-Class is still going very strong, especially with the all-new model just around the corner.

Segment figures stand at 1344 units for the month. That’s up 60 per cent on last May, and up 34.1 per cent for the YTD tally. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class during May were as follows:

1. BMW 3 Series – 483 (up from 373)
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 384 (up from 289)
3. Lexus IS – 105 (down from 115)
4. Mercedes-Benz CLA – 84 (up from 24)
5. Audi A4 – 73 (down from 78)

Large Cars under $70,000

In the dying big sedan category, the Kia Stinger continues to do okay here. This may have been helped by the recent introduction of the updated model. Holden Commodore sales continue to report zero. Overall class figures stand at just 219 units for May, up 48 per cent, and down 12.2 per cent YTD. The only vehicles on sale here during May reported the following figures:

1. Kia Stinger – 163 (up from 104 in April)
2. Skoda Superb – 56 (down from 80)
3. Holden Commodore – 0 (equal)

Large Cars over $70,000

A step up and it’s the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class that cross the line as equals. The Porsche Taycan continues to report decent numbers, especially for such a high-end vehicle, with the Audi A6 not far behind.

This class reported 270 sales overall for the month, up an amazing 119.5 per cent on last May, and up 93.2 per cent across YTD. The top five best-selling vehicles in this segment during May 2021 were as follows:

1. BMW 5 Series – 75 (up from 69)/Mercedes-Benz E-Class – 75 (down from 106)
2. Porsche Taycan – 53 (up from 48)
3. Audi A6 – 31 (up from 23)
4. Audi A7 – 13 (up from 9)
5. Maserati Ghibli – 9 (up from 6)

Sports Cars under $80,000

Over in the fun stuff and once again the Ford Mustang puts smiles onto more faces. It easily out-sold its nearest rivals last month. The Mazda MX-5 is holding in there, and the Audi A3 Convertible did some decent numbers.

Class figures topped 656 units, which is up 36.4 per cent for the month, and up 9.8 per cent across YTD. The top five best-selling vehicles in this segment during May 2021 were as follows:

1. Ford Mustang – 441 (up from 202 in April)
2. Mazda MX-5 – 88 (up from 80)
3. BMW 2 Series – 46 (up from 34)
4. Subaru BRZ – 27 (down from 42)
5. MINI Cabrio – 25 (up from 6)

Sport Cars over $80,000

More serious buyers appear to have been more interested in the new BMW 4 Series than anything else. The Mercedes C-Class two-door is still hanging in there, despite being an old model.

Class sales were 370 units, which is up 38.1 per cent YTD, and up 70.5 per cent for the month. The top five best-selling models in this segment during May 2021 were as follows:

1. BMW 4 Series – 124 (up from 95)
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe/Convertible – 111 (up from 104)
3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe/Convertible – 25 (down from 33)
4. Toyota GR Supra – 23 (down from 39)
5. Audi A5 – 18 (down from 19)

Sport Cars over $200,000

At the top of the hill is the Porsche 911, again. Its figure is up a lot compared with the previous month as well. Further down the list, Bentley came out in second spot, while Ferrari rounded out the top three.

Overall class sales topped 103 units, up 9.6 per cent for the month but down 10.4 per cent YTD. See below for the top five best-selling vehicles in this class during May 2021:

1. Porsche 911 – 46 (up from 37 in April)
2. Bentley Coupe/Convertible – 17 (up from 5)
3. Ferrari Coupe/Convertible – 9 (down from 23)
4. Nissan GT-R – 8 (up from 0)
5. McLaren Coupe/Convertible – 7 (equal)

Combined 4×2 and 4×4 utes

Time for the Aussie favourite, and it’s the Toyota HiLux that’s out on top. Most of the rest of the rankings look pretty similar to the previous month, although the new Nissan Navara overtakes the BT-50 for fifth spot.

The top 9 best-selling utes (4×2 and 4×4 combined – excludes LandCruiser, LDV T60, RAM 1500 etc.) for May 2021 were as follows:

1. Toyota HiLux –  4402 (up from 4222 in April)
2. Ford Ranger – 4254 (down from 5021)
3. Isuzu D-Max – 3058 (up from 1999)
4. Mitsubishi Triton – 2317 (down from 2458)
5. Nissan Navara – 1544 (up from 1072)
6. Mazda BT-50 – 1429 (down from 1443)
7. Volkswagen Amarok – 588 (down from 834)
8. Great Wall Steed – 84 (down from 100)
9. Mercedes-Benz X-Class – 0 (down from 3)

Over in the slightly more hardcore segment, and it’s the GWM Cannon that’s edging out in front. The old-school Toyota LandCruiser isn’t far behind. We see the Chevrolet Silverado has also jumped into fifth spot. The top five best-selling 4×4 utes during May 2021 were as follows:

1. GWM Ute – 747 (up from 627)
2. Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series – 604 (up from 582)
3. LDV T60 – 518 (up from 485)
4. RAM 1500 – 262 (up from 250)
5. Chevrolet Silverado – 123 (up from 117)

Best-selling SUVs in all segments

Everyone wants an SUV, it seems. The ‘Medium below $60k’ segment remains as the most popular size, with 14,191 sales (up 25 per cent YTD). It was followed by the ‘Small below $40k’ segment, which reported 12,451 units (up 25 per cent YTD), and then the ‘Large below $70k’ class with 10,723 sales (up 31.3 per cent).

The Toyota RAV4 was the most popular SUV outright, again, and this time it was the Audi Q5 that scored the most sales out of all premium SUVs. The top three best-selling SUVs in all segments during May 2021 were as follows:

SUV Light (no price range):

• Mazda CX-3 – 1533 (down from 1779 in April 2021)
• Kia Stonic – 986 (up from 769)
• Toyota Yaris Cross – 757 (up from 730)

SUV Small under $40,000:

• MG ZS – 1605 (up from 1350)
• Mazda CX-30 – 1471 (up from 1035)
• Hyundai Kona – 1400 (down from 1529)

SUV Small above $40,000:

• Audi Q3 – 473 (down from 553)
• Volvo XC40 – 457 (up from 307)
• BMW X1 – 432 (up from 270)

SUV Medium under $60,000:

• Toyota RAV4 – 4014 (down from 4506)
• Mazda CX-5 – 2768 (up from 2353)
• Nissan X-Trail – 1535 (up from 1522)

SUV Medium above $60,000:

• Audi Q5 – 552 (up from 276)
• Lexus NX – 395 (up from 332)
• BMW X3 – 370 (up from 364)

SUV Large under $70,000:

• Toyota LandCruiser Prado – 2214 (up from 1370)
• Mitsubishi Pajero Sport – 1003 (up from 534)
• Subaru Outback – 931 (down from 1041)

SUV Large above $70,000:

• BMW X5 – 401 (up from 263)
• Mercedes-Benz GLE – 350 (down from 375)
• Range Rover Sport – 208 (down from 210)

SUV Upper Large under $100,000:

• Toyota LandCruiser – 2795 (up from 2595)
• Nissan Patrol – 234 (up from 193)

SUV Upper Large above $100,000:

• Mercedes-Benz GLS – 139 (up from 93)
• BMW X7 – 88 (up from 63)
• Land Rover Discovery – 55 (up from 23)