New vehicle registrations softened in September but total numbers remain ahead of the record-setting volume seen in 2017, according to Motor Industry Association data.
“September 2018 new vehicle registrations of 13,910 vehicles were down 4.0 per cent (597 units) on September 2017," said Motor Industry Association CEO David Crawford. "Year to date, the market is up by 1.0 per cent (1,161 units) compared to the first nine months of 2017."
Although September saw a strong result for the rental market (1766 units), a decrease in passenger and commercial registrations saw overall results 'soften slightly', according to the MIA.
"Registrations of 9,432 passenger and SUV vehicles for the month of September were down 423 units on September 2017, a decrease of 4.3 per cent and registrations of 4,478 commercial vehicles were down by 174 units (3.7 per cent) on September 2017,” said Crawford.
The newly-released Toyota Corolla was the top selling vehicle in September with 872 registrations, but almost three quarters of delivers (643 units) were to the rental market. Year to date, Toyota continues to dominate the rental market with the top six spots occupied by Toyota models.
Overall, the Corolla was the only hatchback in the top 10 models list, followed by the Ford Ranger (802 units), Toyota Hilux (667 units), Mitsubishi Triton (425 units) and Toyota Rav4 (366 units).
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However year-to-date, the Ford Ranger ute is still the top selling model with 7430 registrations, ahead of the Toyota Hilux (5950 units) and Corolla (4086 units).
Toyota remained the overall market leader in September with 21 per cent market share (2,944 units, including 1157 rentals), followed by Ford with 10 per cent (1,369 units) and Mitsubishi with 9 per cent market share (1,219 units).
Toyota also retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations with 21 per cent market share (1,955 units) on the back of strong rentals for the month, followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (812 units) and Mitsubishi with 8 per cent market share (766 units).
In the luxury sector, Mercedes-Benz was the market leader in September with two per cent (191 units) of the passenger market, followed by Audi with one per cent (143 units).
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Despite the strong popularity of medium SUVs and utes, the MIA says the rising cost of fuel is causing new buying trends emerge.
“With the continued high price of petrol and recent new fuel taxes, the trend towards downsizing is becoming more apparent."
"The SUV Medium segment remains the top segment for the month of September with 18 per cent market share. This was followed SUV Compact segment with 14 per cent, the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 also with 14 per cent of the market, and then Small Vehicle segment with 11 per cent market share” said Mr Crawford.
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Top 15 Vehicle Registrations by Model - September 2018
| Marque and Model | Registrations |
| Toyota Corolla | 872 |
| Ford Ranger | 802 |
| Toyota Hilux | 667 |
| Mitsubishi Triton | 452 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 366 |
| Kia Sportage | 323 |
| Mitsubishi ASX | 317 |
| Toyota Hiace | 291 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 288 |
| Holden Colorado | 279 |
| Suzuki Swift | 275 |
| Mitsubishi Outlander | 254 |
| Nissan Navara | 254 |
| Toyota Yaris | 219 |
| Nissan X-Trail | 212 |