Those frustrated by delivery delays for new Toyota LandCruisers are not having the same trouble with the much more popular HiLux.
Our continued love affair with the versatile and cheaper utes saw 6441 sales reported by dealers across Australia in July.
The HiLux's domination of new car sales is even more stark when the Ford Ranger came in second for monthly sales with 2934 sold.
Third was another Toyota offering, the RAV4 with 2437sales.
Fourth and fifth were Mazda's CX-5 (2346) and Hyundai's Tucson (2186).
New vehicle sales figures for July have been released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
A total of 84,461 vehicles were sold in July bringing the year-to-date total to 622,319.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the market has not "normalised" since the beginning of the pandemic with the demand from cashed-up buyers outstripping supply.
"Vehicle and component manufacturing operations remain affected by plant shutdowns caused by COVID-19," Mr Weber said.
"Logistics, including shipping, remain unpredictable."
Unpredictable is certainly on the mind of those shopping for the LandCruiser 300 and 70 series now facing delays of a year or more.
Only this week Toyota announced it was stopping new orders for the LandCruiser 70 Series so they can catch up.
Existing orders appear to be unaffected.
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The 300 series has already suffered the same fate, with orders suspended indefinitely as the Japanese manufacturer struggles to keep pace with demand.
FCAI's Mr Weber said he did not expect the supply of vehicles to Australia to stabilise in the near future.
"Once again Australia is following the global trend of demand for new vehicles exceeding supply," Mr Weber said.
State by state sale for July:
South Australia up 13.3 per cent with 5649 vehicles sold.
New South Wales up 10.9pc with 26,519 vehicles sold.
Queensland was down 1.1pc per cent (18,900).
Victoria fell 5.8pc (22,076).
Western Australia down 9pc (8059).
Tasmania down 13.2pc (1327).
ACT down 16.4pc (1175).
Northern Territory down 16.6pc (756).
Despite the absence of the LandCruiser, Toyota led the market with a total of 19,565 vehicles sold.
Mazda was next with 7879 followed by Hyundai (6792), Kia (6711) and Mitsubishi (5611).
The passenger vehicle market was down by 1596 vehicle sales over the same month last year.
The sports utility market was up by 2684 vehicle sales.
The light commercial market was down by 930 vehicle sales while the heavy commercial vehicle market is up by 142 vehicle sales for July.
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
