VFACTS figures confirm new vehicle sales for the month of March 2019

According to the peak industry body of the automotive industry, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), new vehicle sales reached a total of 99,442 vehicles during March. This represents a decrease of 7,546 vehicles sales, or 7.1 per cent, on the same period in 2018.

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said that current economic conditions had contributed to the market’s position.

“We are seeing a cautious consumer approach at the moment, and this is not surprising given the number of economic headwinds in the Australian market,” Weber said.

The three top selling vehicles for the month confirmed the market’s appetite for light commercial vehicles, with the Toyota HiLux reporting 4,527 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 3,721 sales, and the Mitsubishi Triton which registered 2,666 sales.

Of the top 10 vehicles sold in March, only three were passenger vehicles, further illustrating the growth of SUVs and LCVs in the Australian market. In total, SUVs and LCVs represented 67.5 per cent of new vehicle sales in the Australian market during March. This is 4.5 percentage points higher than March 2018.

On a year to date basis, the industry reported 268,538 sales across all segments, down 7.9 per cent. Individual segments included:

• Passenger Vehicle segment (84,200 vehicles - down 17.8 per cent),
• SUV (118,892 vehicles - down 3.5 per cent),
• Light Commercial segment (57,128 vehicles - down 0.4 per cent).

From a state-based perspective, South Australia and Tasmania showed solid growth with increased new vehicle sales of 9.4 and 6.2 per cent respectively for the month. All other states and territories showed a decline in vehicle sales during March.

For more information contact:

Lenore Fletcher

Director Communications and Emerging Technologies

FCAI

0408 320 797

lenore.fletcher@fcai.com.au

www.fcai.com.au

Key Points:

• The March 2019 market of 99,442 new vehicle sales is a decrease of 7,546 vehicle sales or -7.1% on March 2018 (106,988) vehicle sales. March 2019 (25.5) had the same number of selling days as March 2018 and this resulted in a decrease of 295.9 vehicle sales per day.
• The Passenger Vehicle Market is down by 7,121 vehicle sales (-19.7%) over the same month last year; the Sports Utility Market is up by 135 vehicle sales (0.3%); the Light Commercial Market is down by 409 vehicle sales (-1.9%); and the Heavy Commercial Vehicle Market is down by 151 vehicle sales (-4.4%) versus March 2018.
• Toyota was market leader in February, followed by Mitsubishi and Mazda. Toyota led Mitsubishi with a margin of 7,163 vehicle sales and 7.2 market share points.