August 06, 2014 | correspondent
The FCAI has released the VFACTS figures from July 2014, showing that Australians purchased 89,867 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles throughout the month – just 0.4 per cent or 368 cars less than the largest July on record (July 2013).
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said SUVs continue to rise in popularity, with sales in the segment up 12.7 per cent on July 2013 figures; and year-to-date figures up 4.1 per cent.
“In particular, small SUV sales increased 34.8 per cent, compared to sales in July 2013. Medium SUV sales were up 6.5 per cent and large SUV sales were up 8.8 per cent,” Mr Weber said.
“The popularity of the SUV has seen the segment increase its market share by 1.9 per cent, compared to the same year-to-date period in 2013. SUV sales accounted for 31.4 per cent of the January to July 2014 motor vehicle market, and 32.1 per cent of the market in the month of July 2014.
“Passenger and light commercial sales decreased 6.2 and 5.1 per cent, respectively, compared to July 2013, and 6.4 per cent compared to the same YTD period in 2013. Government buyers purchased 31.8 per cent more SUVs than in July 2013 and 11.4 per cent new passenger cars. However Government purchases of light commercial vehicles decreased by 9 per cent.
“Private sales rose 1.4 per cent, with private buyers purchasing 16.9 per cent more SUVs than in July 2013; but 6.4 per cent less passenger vehicles and 1.6 per cent less light commercial vehicles. YTD private sales are up 2.1 per cent.
“Business sales continue to fall behind 2013 sales figures, with business buyers purchasing 5.1 per cent fewer new motor vehicles than in July 2013; bringing YTD figures 8.4 per cent lower than in 2013,”
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria all showed growth when compared to July 2013 (5.4%, 2.9%, 0.5% and 0.7% respectively). Sales declined in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia (-13%, -4.6%, -11.2% and -3%, respectively).
Overall, the Toyota Corolla maintained the title of top selling vehicle for the month, with 3,800 sales, followed by the Mazda3 (3,421), Toyota Hilux (3,140), the Holden Commodore (2,469) and the Hyundai i30 (2,434).
Toyota maintained the overall lead in market share for June 2014 (18.3%), followed by Holden (10%), Hyundai (9.3%), Mazda (9%) and Ford (6.9%).
Source: http://www.fcai.com.au/news/news/all/all/365/motor-vehicle-sales-strong-in-july-2014
