Australian new vehicle sales in both January (82,270) and February (89,898) have set records for those months, building on a record annual total of more than 1m new cars in 2007, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said.
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February sales were up 7.4% year on year.
“The February sales result is very pleasing for the automotive industry and shows that underlying demand from private buyers and business remains very robust, reflecting continued outstanding levels of vehicle affordability,” said FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar.
The diversity of market trends was shown by the fact that small cars and large sports utility vehicles (SUVs) were once again the main drivers of market growth in February.
Light car sales rose by 2,236 or 22.5%, the small car segment rose 1,645 or 8.6% and the SUV market grew by 3,365 vehicles or 22.6%.
These gains were partially countered by declines in the large car (down 2,488 or 19.9%) and medium car (down 383 or 5.1%) segments.
“The volumes in the large and medium segments have been affected by the run-out of several key models. As new models [such as Ford’s redesigned Falcon] become available in the coming months we would expect to see some turn-around,” said McKellar.
He said a notable facet of the motor vehicle market last month was the large volume of vehicles being bought by businesses.
Sales of tool-of-trade pick-up/cab-chassis 4×2 utilities rose by 1,184 or 22.0%, while the van segment rose 602 or 39.1%.
Toyota was the top-selling brand in February with 23.0% of the market, ahead of General Motors’ Holden with 13.8% and Ford with 10.5%.
Year-to-date Toyota now leads Holden by 15,916 sales.
