It’s more bad, albeit unsurprising, news for the fledgling Australian new vehicle market with sales dropping 9.6 per cent year-on-year in June.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released sales figures for last month indicating a total of 117,817 units sold and a total of 554,466 units so far in 2019.
According to Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, 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.”
When compared to June 2018, Passenger Vehicle sales in June 2019 totalled 33,864, a decrease of 18.5 per cent across the segment. 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 5,396 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 4,851 sales – reaffirming Australia’s natural love for the ute. Third most popular vehicle was the Hyundai i30, with 3,343 sales.
The market leader in June was Toyota with 21,200 sales, followed by Mazda (10,806), Hyundai (10,001), Mitsubishi (8,891), and Kia (7,200).
