20 July 2017

ACT new car sales rebound in June

| Ian Bushnell
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Toyota Hilux car

Toyota remained the market leader in June, with its Hilux the country’s top selling vehicle.

New motor vehicle sales in the ACT picked up in June, bringing a halt to a decline that had gone against the trend in other parts of the country, according to the latest trend figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS said 1582 new cars were sold in the ACT in June, up 0.8 per cent in trend terms on the previous month and 2.3 per cent on the same period last year.

In May, new car sales fell in trend terms by 0.7 per cent, continuing a decline that began in January.

Nationally, 100,845 new cars were sold, an increase of 1 per cent in trend terms on May and 3.2 per cent on the same period last year.

Sports utility vehicles continued to lead the pack with a 1.4 per cent rise nationally. Sales of Passenger vehicles and Others increased 0.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.

The trend figures showed the Northern Territory recording the largest increase, continuing an upward trend that began in January 2017. No falls were recorded in any State or Territory, the ABS said.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said Australia’s new motor vehicle sales achieved a best-ever monthly result in June, according to the motor industry’s statistical service VFACTS.

It said June sales hit a new monthly record high of 134,171, an increase of 4.4 per cent to surpass the previous best result of 128,569 recorded in the same month last year.

This was thanks to strong sales of SUVs and light commercials. SUV sales were up by 11.7 per cent over June 2016, and light commercials by 12.2 per cent. Passenger vehicle sales were down by 5.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.

The chamber said demand was mainly driven by the business sector with sales to businesses for passenger cars increasing by 5.7 per cent and demand for SUVs and light commercials both up by 16.6 per cent.

It also noted that a highly competitive market, low interest rates and the Government’s instant asset write-off provisions were likely contributors to the June 2017 record result. The June result now has 2017 year-to-date results tracking slightly above (+0.2 per cent) the 2016 YTD result.

The most significant June volume growth was in medium SUV segment (5402 sales, up by 32.6 per cent), upper large SUV (+20.8 per cent), and pick-up/cab-chassis 4X4 light commercials (16.7 per cent). The two passenger vehicle segments which lifted during June were sports cars (+38.2 per cent) and people movers (+15.4 per cent).

Toyota remained the industry leader in June with a market share of 18.3 per cent, followed by Mazda with a 9.3 per cent share, and Hyundai on 9.1 per cent. Holden (9273 sales) and Mitsubishi (9266 sales) both had 6.9 per cent of the market.

The Toyota Hilux remained the country’s top-selling vehicle with 5461 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 5051, the Toyota Corolla third with 3830, the Hyundai Tucson fourth with 3741 sales, and Mazda3 fifth with 3490

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As alluded to in the article, the “instant write-off” provisions were a probable reason for the surge and it will be interesting to see if the July figures are lower.

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-finance/what-the-small-business-tax-break-means-for-new-and-used-car-buyers-32814

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