Electric August for new vehicle sales thanks to Tesla

The Tesla Model 3 was the top selling EV and passenger car. Photo: Andrei Diomidov Photography

With Motor Industry Association’s figures just released, August was the strongest month on record for new vehicle registrations, thanks to one important segment.

According to the Motor Industry Association (MIA), there were 14,690 registrations of new vehicles in August, largely due to shipments arriving allowing back orders to be filled. 

Registrations of 10,940 passenger cars and SUVs were up 138.6  percent (6355 units) in the same month last year (August 2021 was affected by Covid lockdowns).

Registrations of 3750 new commercial vehicles were up 73.5 percent (1589 units) in August last year. Registrations of light commercial vehicles are recovering near to what it was prior to the Clean Car Discount fees.

Overall, registrations of new vehicles were up 117.7 percent (7943 units) on a Covid-impacted August 2021. Year-to-date the market has recovered to now be slightly ahead of this time last year, up 1.3 percent (1396 units). 

And the segment that solidified August’s strong registrations was pure electric vehicles (BEVs), with 2560 units going to new owners. 

The top-selling models were the Tesla Model 3 (745 units) followed by the Tesla Model Y (581 units) and the BYD Alto 3 (448 units). 

Tesla also dominated the passenger and SUV models segments with the Model 3 the top seller, followed by the plug-in Mitsubishi Outlander (677 units) and then the Model Y.

Toyota retained the overall market leader with 18 percent market share (2678 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 12 percent (1697 units), and Kia in the third spot with 11 percent market share (1574 units). 

Market share year to date, Toyota has regained the lead with 17 percent (18,466 units), followed by Mitsubishi's 16 percent share (16,871 units) and then Ford with 8 percent (8443 units). 

In a continuing subdued market for light commercial vehicles, Toyota retained the commercial vehicle sector lead with 28 percent market share (1048 units) followed by Ford with 25 percent (945 units) and Mitsubishi in third with 9 percent market share (332 units).

The Ford Ranger took the top spot for the month of August as the bestselling commercial model with 25 percent share (934 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 24 percent share (897 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton in third place with 8 percent market share (298 units).