Booming Ford Ranger helps new car market soar to above pre-pandemic levels in June despite stock shortages cramping EOFY sales

The Australian new-car market has soared to above pre-pandemic levels in June, despite shock shortages crimping the traditional EOFY bonanza.

The Ford Ranger was Australia's best-selling vehicle in June, and it - along with the Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda CX-5 and Kia Cerato - helped push our year-to-date sales totals to above those seen at the same time in 2019, and well above the pandemic-ravaged results of 2020.

Read More About Ford Ranger

Why you can forget EOFY car sales: Huge May will see most June bargains vanish Australian car market: Car sales, statistics and figures Top EOFY 2021 new car deals: Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and Ford commit to discounts despite stock shortages

Toyota remains Australia's best-selling marque, with Mazda, Hyundai, Kia and Ford rounding out the top five. Kia continues to breath down the neck of its Korean sibling Hyundai, with less than 1000 units separating them in June.

Toyota lead the pack in June

Interestingly, the 110,664 sales recorded in June was only 430 vehicles more than were sold in June 2020 - despite the latter being when most of the country was in lockdown in the midst of the coronavirus response.

It is thought stock shortages being felt right across the industry were responsible for the relatively soft result, with traditional EOFY deals almost non-existent. To put that number into perspective, in June 2019 some 117,817 found homes, and 130,300 were sold in 2018.

Still, the strong start to 2021 sees our half-year total of 567,468 sitting well ahead of the 442,415 sold to this point in 2020, and above even the 2019 result of 554,466.

VFACTS half-year results

“In spite of some States being forced into COVID-19 lockdowns towards the end of June, the acquisition of a new vehicle remains a popular option for buyers across all market segments,“ says FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber

"The delivery challenges caused by microprocessor shortages and bottlenecks in the supply chain are yet to be fully resolved, however, all parties are continuing to find ways to meet the strong demand for customers across all sectors.

“It is our expectation that these issues will begin to be resolved as the global economy continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19."

The Ford Ranger sits atop the pack

The shining light for the new-car market in Australia continues to be SUVs and dual-cab utes, with only three of our top 10 models passenger cars - the rare shining lights in a segment down 6.7 per cent in June. Conversely, SUV sales are up by 3.5 per cent, while LCV sales are petty much stable.