VFACTS for January: Flow-on from tax break

Consumers, the media, the government and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) have all been talking up the market for months. The market responded to all that in January, by picking up a total volume of sales 11.6 per cent and 7785 vehicles ahead of the result for January 2009.

Traditionally, January is a strong month for private sales but businesses are out of the market. January 2009, in the depths of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), was parlous, so perhaps the impressive gains posted last month are not quite as impressive as they appear. Still, it possibly points to further sales growth in February and following months -- especially with the rippling aftermath of the small business tax incentive and the response of the industry to the government's reduction in the passenger-vehicle import tariff from 10 per cent to five per cent.

Total vehicle sales for January were 74,864 units, of which passenger vehicles contributed an extra 2271 units (up 5.5 per cent over January last year), SUVs added 3465 vehicles (up 25.8 per cent) and light trucks grew by 1984 units (up 18.4 per cent). Of passenger vehicles, only sales of medium-segment cars shrunk for the month. Sales in all SUV segments expanded, as was the case for light trucks.

"This is a strong result and provides the market with a confidence boost heading into 2010," FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

"Business purchases remained strong in January with some buyers taking delivery of vehicles ordered last year under the Federal Government's business tax break. New car affordability is better than ever and has been further enhanced by the tariff cut on many imported vehicles.

"New car buyers have effectively been handed a 'tax cut' and many brands have moved quickly to reduce prices or increase vehicle specifications. As a result, it is expected that this will encourage private buyers to return to the marketplace in greater numbers throughout the year," he concluded.

Executive Director of Sales and Marketing at Holden, John Elsworth, continued the theme of accentuating the positive, in a press release issued in response to the positive VFACTS figures for January.

"We're planning a big year and this is a fantastic start," Elsworth said.

"The sales momentum we saw developing in December last year looks like it has carried over into the new year. We've grown our market share to 14.1% of what is a crowded and competitive market and we're pleased with how we are tracking across our model range."

Holden once more secured the position of top-selling car in Australia, with the Commodore selling 3241 units for the month. Captiva, according to Holden, snared a fairly astonishing figure -- something not often seen in the hyper-competitive SUV segments during recent years -- 1421 sales, placing it in the position of number one-selling SUV in the country for the month. It was, suffice to say, Captiva's best month for sale ever. Can Captiva stay there though? Another Holden enjoying its best ever month for sales was the Barina, selling 1379 units during January.

The top ten for car companies in January were: Toyota (14,564 sales, 19.5 per cent share), Holden (10,468 sales, 14.0 per cent share), Ford (6730 sales, 9.0 per cent share), Mazda (6658 sales, 8.9 per cent share), Hyundai (6208 sales, 8.3 per cent share), Nissan (4144 sales, 5.5 per cent share), Mitsubishi (4040 sales, 5.4 per cent share), Subaru (3260 sales, 4.4 per cent share), Honda (3006 sales, 4.0 per cent share), Volkswagen (2337 sales, 3.1 per cent share). Only Mitsubishi and Honda lost ground against the January 2008 figures.

The top ten selling cars for the month were: Holden Commodore (3241), Mazda3 (3223), Toyota Hilux (2997), Toyota Corolla (2711), Ford Falcon (2318), Holden Cruze (2218), Hyundai i30 (2116), Hyundai Getz (1717), Mitsubishi Lancer (1588), Toyota Yaris (1562).

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