Australia's biggest-selling car brand for the past 8 years in a row predicts the new-car market will again power beyond the one million mark.
The forecast from Toyota comes despite figures showing that the new-vehicle market dipped slightly in January and February -- by 1.7 per cent -- and Toyota's sales also took a hit in the first two months of the year (down 6.2 per cent).
The sales dip has been attributed to natural disasters such as cyclones and floods across Australia at the start of the year, which slowed new vehicle sales and wrote-off an estimated 10,000 cars in the affected regions.
Toyota Australia's senior executive director sales and marketing, David Buttner (pictured), told the Carsales Network: "We are still forecasting a market of just over 1 million. We see it as being about the same as last year, about 1,035,000.
"[Consumer confidence and retail spending] are down fractionally but people are still buying cars, the market is still strong and ... after two months of the year, we're still on track for a big year.
"There's no real downwards side to this economy, interest rates are still ok ... and there's a plethora of activity from all manufacturers this year that will create a buoyant time for the market."
Buttner expects Toyota Australia will sell about 220,000 vehicles this year -- up from 215,000 last year and 200,000 the year before -- but that will still not be as high as its record year. In 2007 the car maker sold 238,983 vehicles, up from 236,647 in 2006.
Buttner said unstable and uncertain fuel prices are unlikely to dampen new-car sales.
"Go back a couple of years when petrol was at a record high and there wasn't a significant change to our business," he said. "People still need to buy vehicles for a specific purpose. Sometimes they change the type of vehicle they buy, but they still buy a new vehicle. In fact, high fuel prices can prompt some people to go out and buy a more economical car. So, generally our volume remains steady even when fuel prices go through the roof."
Buttner said Toyota was pleased with the sales of the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Australia's only locally-made petrol-electric car.
Last year, of the 25,000 Camrys sold, more than a quarter (6833) were the hybrid version.
"Hybrid Camry is going well, and we will continue to offer a hybrid in the new generation model," he said.
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