SUVS and Light Commercials Lead Continued Market Growth

Sales of new motor vehicles for August 2016 continued the trend set earlier this year with an increase of 4.6% over the August 2015 figures. To date this year Australians have purchased 784,380 new motor vehicles, up 3% over the volume for the same period in 2015.

“Australians purchased 94,909 new motor vehicles in August 2016, led by strong demand for SUVs and Light Commercials” the Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said. “Demand for SUVs and Light Commercials continues to drive the market, with both these segments increasing sales by over 10% compared to August 2015” Mr Weber said.

Sales of Passenger Motor Vehicles declined by 4.2% in August 2016 compared to the August 2015 sales, with year-to-date sales now down by 5.5% compared to the same period in 2015.

“While Passenger motor vehicles continue to lead the market in terms of overall volume with 41.3% of total 2016 sales, the quite discernible trend towards SUVs and Light Commercials continues. SUVS now account for 37.3% of the total sales year to date 2016, while in 2015 this figure was 34.8%. Similarly, with Light Commercials the current market share year to date is 18.7% compared to 17.4% in 2015”, Mr Weber said.

August also saw strong growth in business sales, with sales up 21.5% over August 2015. Sales of Light Commercial vehicles to business customers increased by 34.4% and sales of SUVs to business were up 31.2%.

Most states and territories had increased sales in August 2016 compared to 2015, with New South Wales up 4.1%, Northern Territory up 14.9%, South Australia up 13.7%, Tasmania up 1.9% and Victoria up 10.1%. Sales in the ACT, Queensland and Western Australia were down 2.7%, 0.7% and 2.7% respectively.

Toyota continues to lead the market with 19.7% of total sales. Toyota is followed by Mazda (9.8%), Holden (8.1%), Ford (7.2%) and Hyundai (6.9%).

The Toyota Corolla was the highest selling vehicle in August 2016 with sales of 3,554, followed by the Toyota Hi-Lux (3,311) Ford Ranger (2,964), Mazda 3 (2,818) and Toyota Camry (2,458).

Key Points:

• The August 2016 market of 94,909 new vehicle sales is an increase of 4,204 vehicle sales or 4.6% on August 2015 (90,705) vehicle sales. August 2016 (27) had one more selling day than August 2015, which resulted in an increase of 26.5 vehicle sales per day.
• The August 2016 industry volume is up by 3,578 or 3.9% on July 2016 (91,331) vehicles.
• The Passenger Vehicle Market is down 1,728 vehicle sales (4.2%) over the same month last year; the Sports Utility Market is up by 3,496 vehicle sales (10.6%); the Light Commercial Market is up by 2,330 vehicle sales (16.2%); and the Heavy Commercial Vehicle Market is up by 106 vehicle sales (3.9%) versus August 2015.
• Toyota was market leader in August, followed by Mazda and Holden. Toyota led Mazda with a margin of 9,392 vehicle sales, or 9.9 market share points.

VFACTS monthly vehicle sales data is available at Midday on the 3rd working day after the end of every month. Select data and media releases on the sales results are available at www.fcai.com.au

For further information contact:

Peter Brewer

P: 02 6229 8221

E: peterbrewer@fcai.com.au