How Australians are turning to 'fun' sports cars and 4WDs to explore Australia as they face long-term international travel bans
- Passenger car sales dived 52 per cent in May 2020 due to the pandemic
- Some 4WDs and sports cars have bucked the trend under global travel bans
- The uptick for 4WDs could suggest Aussies are keen to holiday in the bush
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Australians are buying up sports cars and adventure-ready 4WDs in a sign they are preparing to explore the country as international travel continues to be banned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus crisis has seen car sales take plunge in Australia with passenger vehicles dropping 52 per cent in May compared to the same time last year.
But with international travel banned for the foreseeable future, Australians have been looking past sensible cars and towards vehicles that offer a bit of excitement.
The Australian passenger car market dropped 52 per cent in May but sports cars and some 4WDs have increased in sales. Pictured is the Suzuki Jimny, which racked up a 334 per cent increase in sales during April
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Lenore Fletcher from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said the pandemic had seen overall vehicle sales in Australia drop 48.5 per cent in April, with the impact lessening to a decrease of 35.3 per cent in May.
She told Daily Mail Australia that there had been very few areas of growth in the market with the exception of electric vehicles and smaller Chinese brands such as MG and Great Wall, which sell in very low numbers.
But Ms Fletcher said some patterns in the market could point towards changing behaviours as Australia slowly breaks out of lockdown.
While sports cars traditionally sell in low numbers, sales of the Subaru WRX (pictured) increased by 66.3 per cent in April while the low-slung Subaru BRZ went up by 66.7 per cent
The Suzuki Jimny 4WD sold 334 per cent more in April than it did in March.
And while the Toyota LandCruiser did drop slightly in sales, it went from Australia's 15th most popular car in March to the fourth best-selling car in May.
Toyota's HiLux held strong as Australia's most popular car followed by the Ford Ranger and the newly released Toyota Rav4 family SUV.
Ms Fletcher said while utes and SUVs were always loved by Australians their consistent popularity despite the downturn could suggest many families are looking for a way to go on holiday safely.
'People are now going to start buying caravans so they can have their holidays while self contained and following social distancing rules,' she said.
'And if you are doing that, then this (4WDs) is the sort of vehicle you need to tow them.'
While the Toyota Landcruiser did drop slightly in sales, it went from Australia's 15th most popular car in March to the fourth best-selling car in May
While sports cars traditionally sell in low numbers, the Subaru WRX had an increase of 66.3 per cent in sales in April while the low-slung Subaru BRZ sold 66.7 per cent more.
Ms Fletcher said when she travelled out to Melbourne's famous driving roads at the beginning of the pandemic she was shocked at the amount of performance cars on the road and was not surprise to see the bump in sales.
And with the cost of petrol still sitting around $1 a litre in most parts of Australia the cost of running a thirsty 4WD or sports car will be far less.
Ms Fletcher said she believed Australia's impressive handling of the coronavirus, that has seen infection rates plummet, would see sales return.
'At the end of May we did start to see an uptick of more dealer traffic more website activity so the consumer interest is starting to reignite their interest in buying cars,' she said.
With the cost of petrol still sitting around $1 a litre in most parts of Australia the cost of running a thirsty 4WD or sports car will be far less. Pictured is the Subaru BRZ
