1
NEWS
VFACTS for September: Election doubt shapes market
New car sales slipped back two per cent with the eyes of the nation watching for a change of governmentTony Weber, Chief Executive of the FCAI, has blamed a slow-down in sales for September on the former Labor government's move to change the basis for calculating Fringe Benefits Tax applicable to new car purchases.
"The announcement by the Coalition to return to pre-July FBT arrangements has been welcomed by the industry," Weber said in a press release issued today.
"We anticipate the market effect of this announcement will see positive growth throughout the rest of the year. Consumers can be confident that the recent FBT issue is now behind us."
According to the FCAI (Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries), VFACTS figures for September reveal that Tasmania (11.1 per cent) was the only state in Australia where sales grew more than one per cent, year on year. Victoria (0.7 per cent) and South Australia (0.4 per cent) enjoyed modest sales growth, but sales in every other state and territory declined.
92,662 vehicles were sold last month, 1965 fewer than September 2012, but the total market is ahead of 2012, on a year to date basis. For the first nine months of this year the market has achieved sales of 849,944 vehicles – 27,270 vehicles or 3.3 per cent ahead of the same period in 2012.
The sales slump last month was principally due to lower interest in passenger cars, accounting for 1888 of the 1965 fewer sales. Yet certain segments – sports, upper large and people movers – showed continuing growth, although Ford fans will be pleased to hear that the Toyota 86 (492 sold) didn't outsell the Falcon (846). For the previous month the Toyota sports car came within six sales of overtaking the locally-produced large car. Light commercial vehicles lost 1045 sales, relative to September 2012, but most of that shortfall was absorbed by increased sales in SUVs – up 947 sales for the month.
Top selling brands for the year to date are: Toyota (158,793), Holden (81,904), Mazda (78,252), Hyundai (72,599), Ford (64,964), Nissan (59,460), Mitsubishi (54,603), Volkswagen (40,330), Honda (31,659) and Subaru (29,448). Of the companies in the top ten, Toyota, Holden, Ford and Subaru have recorded lower sales for the year to date than in 2012.
The 10 best selling cars during the month of September were: Toyota Corolla (3443), Toyota Hilux (3341), Mazda3 (3052), Holden Commodore (2869), Hyundai i30 (2675), Nissan Navara (2278), Toyota Camry (2223), Ford Ranger (2037), Volkswagen Golf (1852), Holden Cruze (1851).
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Tags
Share this article
Written byKen Gratton
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todayDisclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.