Car News

The Ford Ranger four-wheel drive ute has outsold the Toyota HiLux four-wheel drive for the seventh month in a row – the longest winning streak to date for the Blue Oval brand. However, the Toyota HiLux remains on track to become the best-selling vehicle outright for the fourth year in a row when all variants are included – counted by nameplate according to standard industry practice – as it now has an unassailable lead.

Holden has posted its lowest monthly sales result since the first car rolled off the production line and then-Prime Minister Ben Chifley declared “she’s a beauty” in 1948. The latest sales figures show Holden reported just 2863 cars as sold in September 2019 – the lowest result in its 71 year history – a decline of 38 per cent compared to the same month the previous year.

The Australian company responsible for the right-hand drive conversion and distribution of America’s Ram pickup trucks is demonstrating astonishing growth and battling to satisfy demand in a flat market. American Special Vehicles (ASV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sydney’s Ateco Group that contracts conversions to the Walkinshaw Group, has sold 1378 Ram trucks this year through its network of 47 dealer partners. That’s growth of more than 900 per cent.

Lexus has defied the downwards trend in the luxury market throughout 2019, and it's crediting its range of hybrid vehicles for the results. Toyota's luxury arm was up 5.9 per cent in May and has exactly matched 2018 sales year-to-date. That's in stark contrast with BMW (down 3.8 per cent year-to-date), Audi (down 29 per cent), and Mercedes-Benz cars (down 14 per cent).

Regardless of who wins the upcoming Federal election, new-car sales are expected to surge in the second half of this year – following the longest slump since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009. Official car sales figures show April, the 13th month in a row in negative territory, took the biggest hit with eight of the top 10 brands posting significant declines.