Australian new vehicle sales fell in June reflecting, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said, "tough market conditions".
Volume fell 9.6% year on year to 117,817 units.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Year to date sales were down to 554,466 vehicles.
Tony Weber, FCAI chief executive, said: "Over the past six months we have seen various conditions and circumstances which adversely affected the the market.
"These include a tightening of financial lending, environmental factors such as drought and flood, and a strongly contested federal election.
"In addition, the continuing incursion of luxury car tax on a federal level, and now in some cases on a state level as well, is a major disincentive. It could just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for the new car buyer," Weber said.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataCompared to June 2018, passenger vehicle sales in June 2019 totalled 33,864, a decrease of 18.5% across the segment.
SUV sales totalled 53,509, a decrease of 4.7%, and light commercial vehicles totalled 26,372, a decrease of 7%.
The most popular vehicle was the Toyota HiLux with 5,396 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger (4,851) – reaffirming the local market's love for the ute [pickup truck].
Third most popular vehicle was the Hyundai i30, with 3,343 sales.
The market leader in June was Toyota with 21,200 sales, followed by Mazda (10,806), Hyundai (10,001), Mitsubishi (8,891), and Kia (7,200).
