Australian 4X4 Sales AUGUST 2020

Okay, so that annual overseas holiday to Monaco has been #COVIDcancelled and you’re looking to buy a big fat 4X4 to kit out with all that money you would have lost at the casinos, before heading north. Well, guess what, you’re not the only Highroller to have cooked up that plan this year. Who doesn’t want to get out of the major cities right now and head for the bush?

Buying anything 4X4 related in the current climate is tough due to a lack of stock. Accessory sales have skyrocketed as has demand for new and used 4X4s, and it’s put COVID affected supply chains under enormous pressure. They’ll start to come good over the coming months as product and vehicle manufacturers push to catch up with demand but in the meantime, getting what you want, might involve some waiting.

Throw in stage 4 lockdowns in Victoria, where new vehicle sales in August were down 65.9 percent (!) and, well, it’s all a bit like the footy, in that it’s not the year to get too upset if your favourite 4X4 slips a notch or two on the sales chart.

The first allocation of diesel-powered Defenders has sold out.

Having said that, the traditional order of things is holding for the most part, as you can see in the tables below. We’d expect Colorado sales to slow to nil over the coming months as stock runs out forever and D-MAX sales to go a little bonkers, as the all-new ute officially went on sale at the start of this month, and supply builds to meet demand over the balance of this year. And that folks, will be a big fat arrivederci to the old ute platform that both vehicles once shared.

HiLux will likely be a similar story, as stock of the recently updated MY21 HiLux range come on tap and Victorian buyers are allowed out to wander showrooms again, assuming that’s what Dan decrees later this week.

Is there anything interesting that’s not covered by the Top 20 table below? Well, I’m glad you asked because it’s worth noting that Land Rover’s all-new Defender has notched up 134 sales since being launched locally last month, with the first allocation of diesel-powered variants having sold out.

The other interesting fact is that 245 of the three different variations of the RAM 1500 full-size US of A pickup (Express, Laramie and Warlock) were sold in August, putting total RAM 1500 sales for 2020 at 2,233 units, to-date. The Ram 1500 Express with pricing that starts at $76,960, and boasting a 4,500kg towing capacity, is responsible for 1,223 of those sales.

Here’s how the numbers look so far for 2020: