High fuel prices and interest rates have not deterred Australians from buying new motor vehicles.
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Sales up 3.5% year on year to 542,695 new cars, trucks and buses in the first six months of 2008 set a new record, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
June was also a record month as sales rose 1.4% to 106,541 – this was also an all-time record for any month in Australian motor vehicle sales history.
The single largest contributor to sales growth so far this year has been the medium SUV segment, which is up 18.5%.
“The continued growth of the motor vehicle market so far this year is an encouraging result given current economic circumstances,” said FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar.
“Business sales in particular have remained resilient in the face of interest rate rises, fuel price increases and general turbulence in world financial markets.”
He added that the FCAI forecasts the market will again exceed 1m motor vehicle sales in the calendar year, having first passed that milestone last December with a total of 1,049,982.
“While there are reasons to be cautious about the general market outlook in the second half of the year, the industry remains confident that total 2008 sales will once again top 1m units,” he said.
Small car sales rose 4.6%, while two-wheel drive pickup truck/cab-chassis sales rose 12%.
Toyota remained market leader in June, selling 25,624 vehicles, which was an all-time record for any brand in any month.
It was also the top-selling brand in the first half of the year with 127,440 sales or 23.5%, followed by General Motors’ Holden with 67,123 (12.4%) and Ford with 54,469 (10%).
The most popular model this year so far was Toyota’s Corolla ahead of the Holden Commodore and Toyota HiLux.
