Top 20 best-selling vehicles in August: Toyota retains domination as new-car market stays strong

John Law

Contributor

Toyota stayed firmly on top of the Australian sales charts in August with four out of the top five selling cars wearing that familiar badge.

August 2021 continued the trend of strong sales with the market posting a one third (33 per cent) increase over the same month last year.

The number of new cars sold in August totalled 81,199 which is impressive given the challenging conditions faced by the majority of the population dealing with lockdowns and economic uncertainty.

The Top 20 best-selling cars

2020 Toyota Hilux Workmate — Would you believe it? The Toyota HiLux has done it again.

In a world of uncertainties, some comfort comes from looking at the sales charts to see the Toyota HiLux taking first place. In August, the HiLux managed that with a combined 4,470 new registrations for 4×2 and 4×4 models.

The Ford Ranger once again took second spot with 3,959 sales. However, if we split the two top-selling utes into their 4×4 and 4×2 variants, the Ford comfortably leads the AWD segment favoured by private buyers with 3,609 sales to the HiLux’s 3,324.

Following the light commercial vehicles was a diverse trio of Toyota products. The Corolla had a strong showing in third (3,563) followed by the RAV4 which returned to form in August with 3,169 sales, and the LandCruiser Prado finished in fifth spot with 2,731 registrations.

Ford Ranger ARB front — However it was the Ford Ranger that sold best in the 4×4 ute class, reflecting its popularity with private buyers.

The Mazda CX-5 had another consistent sales month finishing sixth with 2,239 sales in August. Following the CX-5 was the Hyundai i30 in seventh (2,047).

Isuzu’s D-Max ute slipped from its third-place high in June back into eighth position in August with 1,941 registrations. The MG ZS small SUV remained steady in ninth with nearly identical sales numbers to last month (1,700 August, 1,786 July).

We saw another bumper month for the aging Mitsubishi Outlander midsize SUV, though Mitsubishi didn’t shift quite as many units as July recording 1,638 sales in August.

Toyota Camry Hybrid Ascent 2021 front — The mildly facelifted Toyota Camry made inroads coming in 11th this month.

It has been a while, but a recent update saw the Camry have a strong month, the storied nameplate in 11th with 1,422 sales followed by the Mazda BT-50 (1,325), Kia Cerato (1,205) and new Hyundai Tucson (1,169).

Another surprise came in 15th with Isuzu managing to shift 1,158 MU-X units, likely to do with the very recent release of an all-new instalment of the off-road capable seven-seat SUV.

In 16th was the familiar face of the Mazda CX-30 with 1,141 sales – though the CX-3 slipped to 41st – followed by the Toyota LandCruiser (1,107) and Subaru Forester (1,104).

Subaru Forester Wilderness edition 2022 rear — Meanwhile the Subaru Forester managed to sell well despite semiconductor shortages.

Rounding out the top 20 are two traditional small cars: the Mazda 3 comfortably cemented its position as a strong-seller in the class with 1,075 registrations, while the astoundingly affordable MG 3 came 20th with 1,035 registrations.