Small car sales down

Australia's vehicle industry has had more bad news with sales taking a five per cent dive in September.

The fall, prompted by a slide in demand for small cars, confirmed the 2006 market would fail to match the record levels of the past four years, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said.

"While we expect fourth quarter sales to be strong, it's clear that four years of record sales have, for the moment, come to an end," said FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock.

"It's important to remember, however, that only five years ago motor vehicle sales were averaging about 780,000 per annum.

"So you could say that the Australian market has permanently shifted into a higher gear."

In response to the September result the FCAI revised its full year forecast down 10,000 vehicles to 970,000 compared to the record 988,265 sold last year.

In its VFACTS sales bulletin on Wednesday, the chamber said 79,993 new cars and trucks were retailed last month, a fall of 5.3 per cent compared to September last year.

That took sales for the year to 722,376, or 3.6 per cent lower than at the same time in 2005.

The September result was marked by a 1.8 per cent fall in small car sales which had previously been on the rise largely in response to high fuel prices.

Australia's long-running love affair with large and medium cars was however rekindled with demand for large cars down just 7.1 per cent, an improved performance for the sector which was down 21 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

At the same time sales of medium sized cars jumped a healthy 11.8 per cent.

Mr Sturrock said the improvement in the medium and large car markets could be attributed to recent new releases including Holden's VE Commodore and the Toyota Camry.

Commodore sales rose 8.5 per cent last month compared to September 2005, in the first full month of retail activity for the new model.

But falling petrol prices had also played a role, with a corresponding impact on small car demand.

"While fuel prices clearly remain a market driver, Australians have not fallen out of love with larger cars and the launch of several new models is giving them a reason to look again at large and medium segments," Sturrock said.

"Consumer concern may also have been eased somewhat by the recent falls in crude oil prices which are now being reflected at the pump."

Toyota was the top-selling company last month with 17,183 vehicles, well ahead of Holden on 12,018 and Ford on 8977.

Toyota was also well ahead on a year-to-date basis with 157,364 units, about 48,000 ahead of Holden.

However, the Holden Commodore maintained its crown as the best-selling car with 5262 (VZ and VE models) retailed last month.

Other top-selling models were the Toyota Corolla (3852), Ford Falcon (3563), Mazda3 (3327), Toyota Camry (3092), Toyota Yaris (2043), Hyundai Getz (2028), Toyota HiLux 4x4 (1583), Holden Astra (1491) and the Ford Territory (1418).

Source: AAP 2006