Surprise winners in April 2020: not all car sales went backwards in record low month

Industry analysts believe the Federal Government’s $150,000 instant asset write-off is behind the surge, which saw Ram pick-up sales increase by 14.1 per cent in April (from 156 to 178) in a market that was down by 48.5 per cent.

It brings the year-to-date sales increase for the Ram pick-up range to 27.2 per cent (from 621 to 790) compared to the first four months of 2019.

The other surprise winner for the month was Chinese brand MG, which was up by a modest 1.5 per cent for the month (from 408 to 414 sales) but up by a staggering 75 per cent year-to-date (2124 to 3730) when the first four months of this year are compared to the same period in 2019.

There were other bright spots, too, for unlikely models such as the facelifted Nissan Patrol (up 31.6 per cent), Subaru BRZ sports coupe (up 66.7 per cent) and Subaru WRX performance car (up 63.3 per cent).

Some of the biggest improvers in the van class were the Mercedes-Benz Vito (up 411 per cent), Peugeot Expert (up 183 per cent), and Toyota Hiace (up 21.7 per cent), which was the top-seller while the Europeans posted increases from a low base.

Meanwhile, Australia has clearly landed some good supply of the Suzuki Jimny urban SUV, posting a sales increase of 334 per cent (from 26 to 113).

In the luxury space, sales of the BMW X6 were up 518 per cent and the Mercedes B-Class hatchback was up 600 per cent, both from a low base.