Car sales declined in February 2014 with Australians buying 86,818 new vehicles; 3,400 (3.8 per cent) less than in February 2013.
Australia’s mining and manufacturing states had large falls with Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria recording 12, 5.7 and 4.1 per cent decreases, respectively.
Releasing the VFACTS figures for February 2014, FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said sales fell predominantly in the light commercial vehicle segment, with Australians buying 2,567 (14.5 per cent) less light commercial vehicles.
“We believe the significant decrease in WA, QLD and Victoria, and the sharp decline in light commercial sales are indicative of the slowdown in mining and uncertainty around manufacturing,” Mr Weber said.
Mr Weber noted that despite a decrease in sales of SUVs and light commercials, passenger car sales remained steady.
“Australian consumers purchased 17.4 per cent more large passenger cars than in February 2013. They also bought 5.2 per cent more small passenger cars and 3.1 per cent more medium passenger cars.
“The top five sales list for February 2014 was dominated by passenger cars, with three small cars and one large passenger car making the list. The Mazda3 was the top selling car, with 3,969 vehicles sold. The Toyota Hilux was second (3,348), the Toyota Corolla was third (3,332), the Holden Commodore was fourth (2,777) and the Hyundai i30 was fifth (2,372).”
Government purchases continued to rise, with 3.6 per cent more vehicles bought by government buyers than in February 2014. Business and private sales declined by 4.9 and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
Government and business buyers chose more passenger vehicles, but less SUVs and light commercial vehicles than in the same month last year. Government purchases of passenger cars rose 15.5 per cent and business purchases rose 9.9 per cent. Private buyers purchased 8.9 per cent more SUVs, but 4.7 per cent less passenger cars and 14.1 per cent less light commercial vehicles.
Toyota was the top selling brand in February 2014, with 16,200 sales. Toyota was followed by Mazda (9,171), Holden (8,697), Hyundai (7,802) and Ford (6,287).
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