New vehicle sales seem to be on the rise in Australia following a disappointing 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2021, a total of 83,977 vehicles were sold throughout the country, representing a 5.1 per cent jump over the same month last year when 79,940 vehicles were sold. There were three Australian states and territories where sales fell, however, namely Victoria (down 8.7 per cent), Tasmania (down 3.9 per cent), and the Australian Capital Territory (down 38.3 per cent.)

Like so many other markets around the world, Aussie car buyers are moving away from traditional cars into SUVs. In fact, sales of passenger vehicles fell by 15.3 per cent in February 2021 compared to February 2020, while sales of SUVs jumped by 8.6 per cent and light commercial vehicle sales soared by 24.3 per cent. A grand total of 42,651 SUVs were sold last month compared to the 12,194 passenger cars.

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Toyota maintains its strong position as the country’s best-selling brand, shifting 35,194 vehicles, accounting for 21.5 per cent of the market and up from the 32,488 vehicles sold on February 2020. In second place, with a 10.3 per cent share of the market, is Mazda with 16,830 sales. The third best-selling brand was Hyundai (12,203 sales) followed by Mitsubishi (11,381), Kia (11,371), Ford (9,811), Nissan (7,580), Subaru (5,862), Volkswagen (5,731) and in tenth place, MG with 5,425 sales, a massive rise from the 2,082 sales it recorded in February 2020.

Australia’s best-selling vehicle in February was the Toyota HiLux with 4,808 units sold, well ahead of the Ford Ranger in second with 2,900 sales, the Toyota RAV4 with 2,750 sales, and the Toyota Landcruiser with 2,521 sales. Other top sellers include the Toyota Corolla (2,427), Hyundai i30 (2,210), Mazda CX-5 (2,048), Isuzu D-Max (1,765), Mitsubishi Triton (1,761), and the Mitsubishi ASX with 1,489 sales.