The ups and downs of July new car prices

NEAR record new car sales are reflected in the number of new models and price changes that are scheduled for July.

And it is not all upwards as a couple of importers actually took a knife to their pricing which will no doubt make consumers happy. Plenty of deletions of dud performers too as manufacturers home in on their most profitable and popular models.

The RJ Pound Pricing Services list for July makes interesting reading and could have been different had importers not (still) been hamstrung by supply issues. Time will fix that…

Alphabetically, we are looking at a rash of new models for July, new prices and additional models starting with Alfa Romeo that offers the Giulia small sedan and the Stelvio medium SUV in new Ti and Veloce trim with upgrades to both.

The new Ti variants are priced from $68,450 +ORC for the Giulia and $76,450 +ORC for the Stelvio. Both Veloce models jump $3000 to $74,950 and $82,950 respectively +ORC. The base-grade Stelvio has disappeared.

Ford is next with an Everest Wildtrak 3.0 V6 addition to the range priced from $73,090 +ORC and the Blue Oval also spruiks its E-Transit 420L electric van at $104,490 +ORC.

GWM is active with three new July entrants: the Tank 300 Petrol 4x4 in Lux and Ultra from $46,990 drive-away and the range topping Cannon XSR dual cab fourbie from $52,990 drive-away.

Hyundai tweaked its MY24 Venue light SUV upping the price by between $100 and $250 along the way starting from the base Venue 2WD manual from $22,000 +ORC. The Korean titan also introduced a new MY24 Tucson with minor changes and repriced them all upwards by $250 starting with the base Tucson 2WD from $35,150 +ORC.

Isuzu Ute made its range topping MU-X LST 4x4 a drive-away proposition at $65,990 but all the rest remain plus ORC.

Jeep slid in a PHEV version of its SWB Summit Reserve five seater Grand Cherokee, called the 4xe, at $129,950 +ORC while Kia introduced the MY24 Seltos with no price change and the MY24 Niro which goes up by between $260 and $1290 model dependent starting with the base Niro S Hybrid FWD at $44,930 +ORC.

Lamborghini announced a new Huracan Sterrato Coupe variant priced from $503,949 +ORC while Lexus took the opportunity to upgrade and reprice some of its UX range that starts from the new F Sport Special Edition at $58,120 +ORC.

Mahindra lobs with the two model XUV700 petrol FWD medium SUV with the kick off from $36,990 drive-away, the L variant adds $3000 to the asking price.

Mazda has a spate of changes in July starting by increasing the price of the MY23 Mazda 2 by between $900 and $1000 starting from the G15 Pure at $24,410 +ORC.

Moving to the Mazda 3 we find a reduction in the enormous model range focused on culling manuals and hybrids following a facelift upgrade that starts from $30,320 +ORC for the G20 Pure auto and represents a $1500 to $3000 increase reflected across the Mazda 3 range.

The Mazda BT-50 Thunder ute copped a $530 price hike to retail from $73,945 +ORC.

MG chimed in with the MG4 Excite 51 BEV from $38,990 +ORC and the MG5 petrol 1.5 arrived pitched from $24,990 drive-away for the MG5 Vibe entry model.

The Porsche 718 Spyder arrives this month priced from $214,100 +ORC for the manual with the auto adding $4500. The Cayman GT4 is here too from $224,000 +ORC for the manual and the same premium as Spyder for the auto. Panamera Platinum models dropped in price by $2200 starting with the RWD Platinum now from $206,800 +ORC.

French brand Renault notified a special edition Koleos Iconic medium size SUV in FWD and AWD priced from $48,990 drive-away.

And the electric Rolls Royce Spectre is listed as available, price unknown.

Toyota launched its GR Corolla Morizo hot hatch, of which only 25 are (were) available priced from $77,800 +ORC, a premium of $15,500 over the GTS model.

Volkswagen increased the price of its tiddler size Polo by up to $440 model dependent while the same happened with Golf hatch by up to $2500 again model dependent. The Golf GTi remained the same from $55,490 +ORC while the 20th Anniversary Golf R model jumped $2500 almost before it touched down here, now from $77,490 +ORC.

Golf wagons received a similar price tag tickle as did variants of the T-Roc R AWD, Tiguan, Passat and Arteon. Not forgetting a bunch of new Amarok dual cab one tonne 4WD utes: Core, Life, Style, PanAmericana and Adventura starting from the base Core TDi 405 from $50,990 +ORC.

Volvo’s new EX 30 small electric SUV also appears on the RJ Pound spreadsheet listed from $59,990 for the Extended Range Plus single motor model… and up from there.

*Footnote: GWM announced a reprice of its Ora BEV model in early July after this information was compiled. The model now starts from $39,990 a reduction drop of $4500 from what was originally stated.