Motor vehicle sales in Australia rebounded last month thanks to surging demand for light cars and encouraging sales of family sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
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VFACTS results released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that October sales were up 5.0% over the same month last year.
“The October result suggests that the motor vehicle market may be pulling out of the slight decline of results in recent months and tallies with our prediction of a stronger fourth quarter following important new model releases,” said FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock.
Year to date the automotive market is down by 23,148 vehicles or 2.8% and the FCAI is projecting an end-of-year total of 970,000 – which would be the second highest on record.
Sales in the light passenger car segment rose by 2,382 vehicles or 31.3% over October last year, partly at the expense of the larger-sized small car segment, sales of which fell by 1,328 or 7.0%.
The medium car segment also performed well, jumping by 1,479 sales, while large car sales were just 398 vehicles off the total in October last year.
“The large car segment is starting to feel the positive effect of the new Holden Commodore and the industry looks forward to the segment receiving a further boost this month when the new Toyota Aurion [the Australian-built V6 Camry] goes on sale,” said Sturrock.
He said it was also notable that sales of four-wheel drive vehicles appear to be recovering slightly.
“A rise of 11.3% in SUV sales last month suggests that some consumers may have set aside their concerns about the petrol price spike that occurred over winter,” he said.
Sales of light commercial vehicles rose slightly in October (2.3%), although the segment is down for the year to date by 2.8%.
The FCAI said the automotive industry has begun a huge end-of-year sales push.
“Last week’s opening of the Australian international motor show in Sydney began an intense period of sales and marketing activity running up to Christmas, and we believe that November and December sales will be strong,” added Sturrock.
