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The all-new models of 2020 – and how they’re selling so far

The young up-starts, the fresh faces, the newcomers – whatever you want to call them, we've had a raft of new model arrivals in Australia over the course of 2020.


But in a year that hasn't been kind to established models – prompting the shock departures of several well-loved nameplates – how have these debutante cars fared in the new-car sales stakes?

To find out, we've rounded up every all-new model that debuted this year (excluding updates, facelifts and fresh or special variants) to see which ones are surging ahead for a strong start to 2021.

Here they are, in order of arrival, from least to most recent.

 

Mazda CX-30

Mazda's latest small SUV landed earlier in the year to sit above the CX-3 and below the CX-5. Since its first month available here, it's witnessed a 1876 per cent increase in sales, claiming just over nine per cent of its segment.

 

VFACTs segment: Small SUV under $40,000

Arrival time: January 2020

First month sales: 403

Year-to-date sales: 7965

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 9.3 per cent

 

Drive

 

MG HS

MG's Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 rival landed early in 2020 with competitive drive-away pricing under $35,000, prompting solid uptake in a competitive segment.

 

VFACTs segment: Medium SUV under $60,000

Arrival time: January 2020

First month sales: 131

Year-to-date sales: 2393

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 1.7 per cent

 

Drive

 

BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe

BMW's first-ever 2 Series Gran Coupe (a four-door competitor to the Mercedes-Benz CLA) arrived with just two variants on offer, before being joined by a third in the middle of the year (and two M Pure options) – resulting in it claiming more than a 10 per cent slice in the small premium passenger car segment.

 

VFACTs segment: Small passenger car over $40,000

Arrival time: February 2020

First month sales: 85

Year-to-date sales: 1362

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 10.5 per cent

 

Drive

 

Ford Fiesta ST

Sold as a single, turbocharged, manual variant, the Fiesta ST hot hatch remains something of a niche proposition, selling just under 200 units in 10 months.

 

VFACTs segment: Light passenger car under $25,000

Arrival time: February 2020

First month sales: 5

Year-to-date sales: 183

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.6 per cent

 

Drive

 

Volkswagen T-Cross

Volkswagen finally joined the compact SUV space when launched its tiniest SUV, the T-Cross, in April. Since then, it's averaged 275 sales per month.

 

VFACTs segment: Small SUV under $40,000

Arrival time: April 2020

First month sales: 188

Year-to-date sales: 2206

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 8.6 per cent

 

Drive

 

Jeep Gladiator

Jeep came to play in Australia's ever-expanding ute segment with its Gladiator pick-up – but has struggled to steal sales away from the far more competitively-priced Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

 

VFACTs segment: Pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4

Arrival time: May 2020

First month sales: 71

Year-to-date sales: 490

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.4 per cent

 

Drive

 

Land Rover Defender

The long-awaited revival of the iconic Defender nameplate was much talked-about, but its hefty price tag (kicking off from just under $70,000 before on-road costs for a base-spec variant) might have ruled out a larger buyer base.

 

VFACTs segment: Large SUV over $70,000

Arrival time: May 2020

First month sales: 64

Year-to-date sales: 350

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 2.3 per cent

 

Drive

 

Mitsubishi Express

After seven years, Mitsubishi's van range returned to Australia in mid-2020 as a rebadged Renault Trafic. In the five months since its arrival, it's been able to grow its sales by 268 per cent.

 

VFACTs segment: Vans 2.5-3.5 tonnes

Arrival time: June 2020

First month sales: 150

Year-to-date sales: 552

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 3.0 per cent

 

Drive

 

Mercedes-Benz GLB

A small SUV with seven seats, Mercedes' GLB joined the brand's range of eight other SUVs to offer urban dwellers a way to fit more people into an urban-friendly compact footprint.

 

VFACTs segment: Medium SUV over $60,000

Arrival time: June 2020

First month sales: 213

Year-to-date sales: 630

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 2.6 per cent

 

Drive

 

Skoda Scala

Launched as a competitor to the popular Golf from Skoda's parent brand Volkswagen, the Scala hatch has yet to be delivered to customers, due to ongoing delays.

 

VFACTs segment: Small passenger car under $40,000

Arrival time: June 2020 (planned)

First month sales: 19

Year-to-date sales: 31

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): Zero per cent

 

 

Drive

 

Aston Martin DBX

After experiencing "stronger than expected" demand, Aston Martin's limited Australian allocation of its first-ever SUV was deemed "sold out" back in February 2020 before it even landed – despite its $357,000 plus on-road costs price tag.

 

VFACTs segment: Upper large SUV over $100,000

Arrival time: August 2020

First month sales: 2

Year-to-date sales: 9

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.3 per cent

 

Drive

 

Volkswagen T-Roc

The second prong in Volkswagen's small SUV rollout, the T-Roc is slightly larger than its sibling, the T-Cross, and is so far yet to catch up with the T-Cross' sales after a delayed start.

 

VFACTs segment: Small SUV under $40,000

Arrival time: August 2020

First month sales: 19

Year-to-date sales: 897

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 1.0 per cent

 

Drive

 

Ford Puma

Ford's European-sourced small SUV is on track for a solid finish with to 2020, approaching 500 units sold with one month left to go.

 

VFACTs segment: Light SUV

Arrival time: September 2020

First month sales: 103

Year-to-date sales: 467

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 1.8 per cent

 

Drive

 

Skoda Kamiq

Skoda's smallest SUV is competing in a crowded field of newcomers, but has managed to quadruple its first month sales in only two months, despite delays.

 

VFACTs segment: Small SUV under $40,000

Arrival time: September 2020

First month sales: 39

Year-to-date sales: 201

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.2 per cent

 

Drive

 

LDV Deliver 9

LDV initially only offered 50 units of its Deliver 9 van with automatic transmission to Australian buyers, but quickly upped its stock levels when the first batch sold out in a month.

 

VFACTs segment:  LD 3501-8000 kgs GVM

Arrival time: September 2020

First month sales: 5

Year-to-date sales: 101

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.6 per cent

 

Drive

 

Audi E-Tron

Audi's first all-electric model in Australia is averaging just 17 sales a month in its infancy, with a base range of 300km and a starting price of $137,100 before on-road costs.

 

VFACTs segment: Large SUV over $70,000

Arrival time: September 2020

First month sales: 18

Year-to-date sales: 52

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.3 per cent

 

Drive

 

Genesis GV80

An important model for Hyundai's luxury arm, the Genesis GV80 is expected to be a popular model given Australia's love of luxury SUVs, but it's still early to quantify its success.

 

VFACTs segment: Large SUV over $70,000

Arrival time: November 2020

First month sales: 21

Year-to-date sales: 21

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 0.1 per cent

 

Drive

 

Toyota Yaris Cross

By far the best first-month performer on the list, Toyota's new compact SUV – based on the well-known Yaris hatch – has benefitted from name-plate recognition with almost 800 sales upon its Australian debut.

 

VFACTs segment: Light SUV

Arrival time: November 2020

First month sales: 794

Year-to-date sales: 794

Year-to-date segment share (as of November 2020): 3.1 per cent

Drive
Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

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