The federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has reported the strongest sales for the month of July on record:
Customers in Australia received 96,859 new vehicles in July.
This represented a 14.7% increase over the same month in 2022 and broke the previous July high of 92,754 in 2017.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the July result indicates the market is still recovering from supply difficulties caused by COVID plant shutdowns, microprocessor shortages, and logistics and shipping bottlenecks:
“During the past twelve months the issue has been one of securing supply for consumers, however as these pressures ease, we are starting to see a return to more stable market conditions”.
“Many of these vehicles were ordered several months ago, so it is important to monitor the broader economic conditions through 2023 and their impact on private and business demand”.
As shown below, sales in the passenger motor vehicle (PMV) segment remained at an historically low level, with many buyers transitioning into the SUV category:
“Passenger vehicles now represent 17.7% of the market in July while the SUV category now sits at 58.9%”, Tony Webber said.
“However, contrary to widely held opinion, not all SUVs are large vehicles as 75% of SUV sales are in the medium, small and light categories”.
New car sales have been depressed for several years because of COVID supply disruptions. This has pushed up prices of both new and used cars.
The rise in new car sales is partly attributable to the large numbers of back orders.
it is also a sign of supply constraints easing and will hopefully lead to cheaper used cars as well.
