SUV Sales Pass 50% of Monthly Sales for the First Time

August 8th, 2020

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Australia’s new car market has seen a significant milestone – for the first time ever, over one in two cars sold last month were an SUV. Official data for July 2020 by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed SUVs comprised 50.4% of all new vehicles sold.

Taking a closer look

While SUV sales topped passenger vehicles some time ago – back in 2017, in fact – to see SUV sales now above 50% of the entire market tells us how far this format has come. It is a clear winner among Australian households right across the country.

In comparison, the performance of the passenger vehicle category continues to decline, accounting for just 25% of sales last month. With utes, vans and heavy-industry vehicles making up the other 25%, it looks like it won’t be long before passenger vehicles are on the outer altogether! One just has to look at the category back in 2012, when passenger cars represented 51.7% of all new car sales. How times have changed!

No one can say the trend has been slow moving either. Sure, SUVs have been around for a couple decades, but they have particularly risen to prominence across the last decade as the improving versatility and functionality of SUVs have all but underpinned their explosive growth.

With last month’s tally coming in at 36,500 SUV sales, that’s almost double what the industry recorded back in July 2010. Let’s not forget either, we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis of modern history, so we’re certainly not comparing apples with oranges here as back then, conditions were no worse.

Where to from here?

If it didn’t already make a lot of sense why every brand and manufacturer is pivoting towards the SUV category, then it should now. It’s what Australians want.

Designers are pulling out all the tricks to spur on this momentum and create vehicles that, in the eyes of motorists, appeal to all their senses. Gone are the old perceptions of SUVs being relegated to ‘soccer mums’ or strictly for off-road adventures. From just one SUV category a decade ago, the segment is now brimming with various offers, each pitched to the different needs of motorists from all walks of life.

The next milestone in sight? SUVs making up 50% of all new car sales across a calendar year. Guess what? It’s not likely to be all that far away!