Sales of motor vehicles contine to slide in Australia, with a 9.6 per cent drop for the month of June.
Figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show sales for the month totalled 117,817 units, with year to date 2019 sales totalling 554,466 units.
This compares to total sales at the halfway point last year of 605,522 units, a difference of 51,056 vehicles — or fall of 8.8 per cent.
Total passenger cars sales were 204,350, compared to 170,770 so far this year — down 17.9 per cent.
The outlook is not good but FCAI Chief exec Tony Weber is doing his best to remain upbeat.
He said the June result reflects the tough market conditions and highlights the sensitive nature of the new vehicle market.
“Over the past six months we have seen various conditions and circumstances which adversely affected the market. These include a tightening of financial lending, environmental factors such as drought and flood, and a strongly contested federal election,” he said.
“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.”
Passenger Vehicle sales totalled 33,864, a decrease of 18.5 per cent across the segment, compared to June 2018.
SUV sales totalled 53,509, a decrease of 4.7 per cent, and Light Commercial Vehicles totalled 26,372, a decrease of 7.0 per cent.
The most popular vehicle was the Toyota HiLux with 5396 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 4851 sales –reaffirming the local market’s love for the ute.
Third most popular vehicle was the Hyundai i30, with 3343 sales.
The market leader in June was Toyota with 21,200 sales, followed by Mazda (10,806), Hyundai (10,001), Mitsubishi (8891), and Kia (7200).
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