A new Australian light vehicle sales record for the month was set in May according to official VFACTS data compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
Overall, 96,069 vehicles were sold last month, up 24.1% (or 18,668 vehicles) compared to May 2011 when sales were affected by supply problems caused by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
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Year to date, sales were up 8.8% year on year to 435,288 units.
Aussie passion for sports utility vehicles (SUVs) has not abated, the FCAI noted, with sales increasing 56.6% compared with May last year and 30.3% (28,291) over the first five months of 2011. The upper large SUV segment saw the biggest increase (85.0% or 597 vehicles), followed by small SUVs with a 77.2% year on year monthly increase (2,282).
Sales for some other vehicle categories were also promising with the passenger segment up 13.9% (5,908 units) and the light truck segment by 19.8% (3,006) compared with May last year.
Sales of locally manufactured vehicles were up 11% last month.
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By GlobalDataThe popular Mazda 3 – which has topped the model sales chart this year was, however, again pipped at the post in May by the Toyota HiLux with 4,626 sales.
Toyota was the best performing brand in May selling 20,443 vehicles, followed by General Motors’ Holden with 9,017 and Mazda (8,346).
