The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released new vehicle sales figures for September 2019.
According to Tony Weber, Chief Executive of the FCAI, new vehicles have now seen the 18th consecutive month of decreasing sales in the Australian market.
“It is clear the slower sales rate the market is experiencing is in line with the broader economic environment in Australia,” said Weber. “Of particular concern to the industry is the restrictive regulatory lending conditions currently facing consumers. The question has to be asked – are these results telling us we have made it too difficult for people to finance basic purchases in today’s Australia?”
Total sales for the month numbered 88,181 vehicles, a decrease of 6530 vehicles, or 6.9 per cent, on September 2018. On a year-to-date basis, a total of 811,464 new vehicles were sold, a decrease of 69,541 vehicles, or 7.9 per cent, on the same period in 2018.
During the month, the Sports Utility market (41,861 units) lifted by 1.1 per cent, while the Passenger Vehicle market (24,893 units) was down 18.3 per cent, and the Light Commercial market (18,257) decreased by 5.4 per cent.
Of the top 10 best-selling vehicles, the top three were light commercial vehicles – the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton. Four were sports utility vehicles – the Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX-5, Nissan X-Trail and the Mitsubishi Outlander. Only three were passenger vehicles – the Hyundai i30, Toyota Corolla and Kia Cerato.
Toyota remained the top selling marque for the month with 15,166 sales for 17.2 per cent market share, followed by Mitsubishi (8990 sales for 10.2 per cent market share), Mazda (8168 sales for 9.3 per cent market share) Hyundai (7245 sales for 8.2 per cent market share) and Kia (5128 for 5.8 per cent market share).