For the first time ever, total new vehicle sales in Australia exceeded one million by the end of November, according to the official VFACTS data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
Overall, 1,016,605 vehicles (cars, SUVs, light commercials and trucks) have been sold since the beginning of 2012. This is a 10.9 per cent increase (90,627 vehicles) on sales for the first eleven months of 2011. November sales increased in every state and territory compared with the previous November and also on a year to date basis.
If December repeats previous years’ trends, with around 80,000 units sold for the month, total sales for 2012 may reach 1.1 million.
On a month to month basis, 98,347 vehicles were sold in November 2012, an increase of 10.9 per cent (or 9,693 vehicles) compared to November 2011.
Resurgence in passenger vehicle sales, as well as continued growth in SUVs and light commercial sales, contributed to the strong November result.
Passenger vehicle sales increased 10.6 per cent (4,940 units) compared with November 2011, driven particularly by the medium passenger vehicle segment. Disappointingly, government purchases of passenger cars dropped 35.1 per cent compared with the same month last year, and have decreased 20.7 per cent since the beginning of 2012.
Sales growth for SUVs continues to be driven by private and non-private customers, both of which are showing a trend toward diesel-powered models. Non-private buyers are also showing a growing interest in hybrid SUVs. There was 53.2 per cent growth in private purchases, and 28.2 per cent in non-private purchases of diesel SUVs compared with the same eleven months in 2011.
The market share of SUVs compared with passenger vehicle cars is virtually unchanged from last month, with SUVs making up 27.6 per cent of new vehicle sales year to date, compared with passenger vehicles which represent 51.8 per cent.
Sales of locally manufactured vehicles picked up compared to November last year, with an increase of 11.2 per cent, but total sales of 127,821 are down 1.7 per cent from nearly 130,072 this time last year.
The Toyota Corolla led vehicle sales in November, with 4,190 units. Mazda3 maintained second place with 3,703 sales, followed by the Toyota HiLux (3,059), Holden Commodore (2,659) and the Toyota Camry (2,349).
Toyota was the best performing brand overall in November selling 19,312 vehicles, followed by Holden with 10,354 and then Mazda with 8,732.
…ends
For further information contact:
Sheena Ireland, Communications Manager
P: 02 6229 8221
M: 0458 038 555
E: [email protected]