Australians close in on record new car sales

Softening housing prices across Australia’s major capitals and an uncertain retail climate haven’t managed to quell our insatiable appetite for new cars, it seems.

Industry sales figures due to be released next week reveal Australia’s new vehicle market continues its stride to an annual record in 2017, despite weaker trading conditions.

Provisional figures obtained by motoring.com.au show November was another significant month for the new car market. Close to 99,000 sales were recorded, according to internal figures expected to be confirmed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

The November sales result pushes year-to-date transactions past the magic million mark, to roughly 1,083,700 vehicles, the figures suggest. All in all, that leaves the market up 0.5 per cent on the equivalent record 2016 figure.

The sales come fresh in the face of new index home prices from property consultant CoreLogic, which reveal sales across Australia’s major cities were flat for a second month in November.

Furthermore, retail sales have also flattened across the country, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data recording poor consecutive results in July, August and September.

No matter, according to new car buyers, businesses and fleets.

The Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger were both big drivers of the November result. The HiLux, Australia’s carry-over top-seller, finished first in November with approximately 4105 sales, while the Ranger (3410) secured second.

From there, the Toyota Corolla (2960), Mazda3 (2465) and Mazda CX-5 (2358) duked it out for third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

Remaining dealer stock of the locally-built Commodore produced a stellar 1835 sales for Holden, meaning it was only narrowly eclipsed by the Colorado (1900) as the Lion brand’s top-seller.

Toyota remains unequivocal market leader, with a 19 per cent share of figures in November, followed by Mazda (9.5 per cent), Hyundai (9 per cent), Holden (8 per cent) and Mitsubishi, at nearly 7 per cent.

Kia’s mercurial rise up the ladder continued in November. The manufacturer secured 4.5 per cent market share, thanks to roughly a 20 per cent jump in sales on the same period last year.

While the November result will provide comfort to manufacturers, the jury is still out on the industry's longer-term direction. Several manufacturers, primarily luxury marques, have indicated their sales are cooling off -- and have expressed less emphasis on volumes moving forward.

In any case, the race to the end of the year should be an interesting one.

*Sales figures rounded ahead of official release