Motor vehicle sales across Australia got off to a strong start in 2018 with record-breaking sales in January. This follows on from a record year in 2018.
Total sales for January, including passenger cars, SUVs, light and heavy commercial vehicles totalled 88,551 (up 4.3%) for the month in comparison to January 2017, with significant growth in SUV (up 10.9%) and Light Commercial (up 20.3%) segments.
The Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber, noted the strong sales which reflected the ongoing value in the current market underpinned by significant competition between the many brands available in Australia.
“2017 was a record year for the industry and we’re pleased to see that strength continuing in the January 2018 sales results. Notably there was very strong growth in business sales of SUVs and Light Commercials.” Mr Weber said.
Sales gains were recorded in all states and territories other than New South Wales which suffered a very minor dip of 0.3% compared to January 2017. Sales in Queensland grew 9.8% compared to the same period in 2017, followed by the ACT (+8.6%), Tasmania (+6.1%), Victoria (+5.8%), Western Australia (+5.2%), South Australia (+3.5%) and the Northern Territory (+0.5%).
Within January 2018 segments, there were some significant increases in sales compared to the SUV and light commercial segments in January 2017, with sales of small and medium SUVs up 25.5% and 19.2% respectively. Similarly, sales of 4X4 Light Commercials were up by 26.6%. Passenger motor vehicles declined by 8.7% compared to January 2017, although passenger vehicles alone still account for a significant 36% of the total market.
Business purchasers led the growth in sales in January with purchases 16.9% higher than in January 2017. Government purchasers were up 2.5% while private purchasers were down 2.9%, although private purchasers of light commercials showed a significant increase of 11.1%. Business purchases of SUVs and Light Commercials were up by 26.0% and 26.7% respectively over the 2017 comparative sales.
The nation’s top five best-selling vehicles in January were the Toyota Hilux (3,860) followed by the Ford Ranger (3,260), the Mazda3 (3,201), Toyota Corolla (2,776) and the Mazda CX5 (2152).
Toyota led the market in January with a 17.3% share, followed by Mazda (11.4 per cent), Hyundai (8.0), Holden (6.5) and Ford (6.4).