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THE usual suspects loitered around the top of the sales ladder in July, confirming the dominance of the utes, while the rest of July’s contenders underwent some shake-ups, particularly for Honda and Mitsubishi.

July saw some unexpected sales drops after the preceding six months of strength and while that didn’t affect the Toyota HiLux – on top again – and runner-up Ford Ranger, it rattled models that have previously been popular buyer choices.

Honda saw some severe falls, with its HR-V small SUV dropping out of the Top 20 to 42nd (previously it was 20th); the Civic to 28th (previously 22); and the brand’s mainstay CR-V drop to 24th from last month’s 12th position.

Mitsubishi also slid as the Outlander dropped to 25th (previously at 18); ASX to 20 (from 16); and its previous third-placed ute, the Triton, freefall to 15th.

At Toyota, it was the reverse. The outgoing Corolla moved up to third (it was fourth) on depleting stocks ahead of this week’s new model; Prado leapt from 23rd to 13; Camry was back in favour and now 17th (previously 29th); and Kluger now in 18th spot, up from 21st.

Toyota has six models in the Top 20, followed by Mazda with three and Hyundai with two.

Ford’s Ranger is now responsible for 59.7 per cent of the company’s sales, while second place is the Mustang that is now responsible for 9.9 per cent, selling 546 units in July.

Holden drifted, its Colorado ute down to 13th from 10th, and the Commodore down at 49th alongside the Mustang and with 11 sales separating them.