The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the peak body for the automotive industry, today reported November sales figures for new vehicles in Australia – and for the first time in more than two and a half years, the figures were positive.
Sales for the month of November were recorded at 95,205, an increase of 10,497 sales or 12.4 per cent on November 2019 when 84,708 sales were recorded.
On a year-to-date basis, 821,316 sales were recorded, a 16.1 per cent decrease on the same period in 2019 when 978,628 sales were recorded.
Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said the industry welcomed the first signs of recovery in the new vehicle market.
“Recent Australian new vehicles sales have seen 31 months of straight decline. This has been caused by a number of well recognised factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and environmental and financial issues.
“With the Australian economy showing improvement, it’s good news to see new vehicle sales trending in a more positive direction,” Mr Weber said.
“Why are we seeing an improvement now? We believe there are a few contributing factors, including rising optimism from the Australian public as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
“This increase in consumer confidence is backed by government support programs during the pandemic, the easing of lending restrictions, and the current competitive automotive market.
“We also believe that, given our inability to travel internationally, many Australians are choosing to purchase a new vehicle and holiday at home this year – and we fully expect to see a notable increase in family driving trips over the Christmas season,” Mr Weber said.
“With this in mind, the FCAI would like to remind all drivers to visit their dealers and ensure their vehicles are in first class condition prior to departing on a road-based family holiday.”
During the month 20,711 Passenger Vehicle were sold (down 10.1 per cent from November 2019), representing 21.8 per cent of the total market. SUVs again claimed the lion’s share (52.5 per cent) of the market with a total of 50,016 sales, up a notable 26.5 per cent from November 2019. Light Commercial vehicles claimed 22.3 per cent of the market with 21,252 sales, up 11.5 per cent from November 2019.
Toyota was the top selling brand for the month, with 23,204 sales, followed by Mazda with 9,053 sales, Hyundai with 6,903 sales, Ford with 6,613 sales and Mitsubishi with 5,488 sales.
The top five selling models for the month were the Toyota Hi Lux with 5,038 sales, the Ford Ranger with 4,260 sales, the Toyota RAV4 with 3,800 sales, the Toyota Landcruiser with 2,947 sales and the Toyota Corolla with 2,774 sales.
VFACTS NOVEMBER 2020
Summary by Class:
Key Points:
The November 2020 market of 95,205 new vehicle sales is an increase of 10,497 vehicle sales or 12.4% on November 2019 (84,708) vehicle sales. November 2020 had 24.7 selling days compared to November 2019 with 25.7, but this resulted in an increase of 558.4 vehicle sales per day.
The Passenger Vehicle Market is down by 2,317 vehicle sales (-10.1%) over the same month last year; the Sports Utility Market is up by 10,481 vehicle sales(26.5%); the Light Commercial Market is up by 2,187 vehicle sales (11.5%); and the Heavy Commercial Vehicle Market is up by 146 vehicle sales (-4.7%) versusNovember 2019.
Toyota was market leader in November, followed by Mazda and Hyundai. Toyota led Mazda with a margin of 14,151 vehicle sales and 14.9 market share points.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
