The latest figures from the Motor Industry Association (MIA) show that new vehicle registrations are continuing to soften, with just 11,616 new cars hitting the road in March 2024.
Last month’s numbers were 27.4 per cent lower than March 2023 and 44.7 per cent lower than March 2022, indicating a large drop in new car buyers. This is something that MIA Chief Executive Aimee Wiley says has been caused by higher interest rates.
Once again, the Ford Ranger reigned supreme with 1005 units sold last month, followed by the Toyota RAV4 (791 units), and the Mitsubishi Triton (681 units).
The market leader for the month was Toyota with a 20.9 per cent market share, followed by Kia in second with 12.8 per cent, and Mitsubishi in third with 10.7 per cent.
As for the commercial market, Ford retained the market lead with a 32.6 per cent share, followed by Toyota with 23.9 per cent, and Mitsubishi with 20.2 per cent.
There was no reprieve for new registrations of electric vehicles last month, with numbers continuing to fall. Shares of EVs are at just 5 per cent for the year, while their share for March 2024 was 6.3 per cent.
The most popular EV last month was the Tesla Model 3 with 125 units registered, followed by the Tesla Model Y (74 units), the MG 4 (42 units), the Volkswagen ID.4 (28 units), and the BYD Dolphin (20 units).
As for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), the most popular model for last month was the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross with 32 units, followed by the Outlander (31 units), the Mini Countryman (30 units), the Mazda CX-60 (17 units), and the Range Rover Sport (13 units).
Things looked a lot for hybrids, with the Toyota RAV4 taking the top spot with 790 units registered in March 2024. This was followed by the Corolla Cross with 181 units, then the Yaris Cross (147 units), the Yaris (134 units), and the Corolla (112 units).
The most popular vehicle segment for last month was medium-sized SUVs, followed by compact SUVs and large SUVs.
