Australian car sales down

Australians bought 93,327 new cars last month, which was 1.3 per cent less than in May 2014. Year to date, sales remain strong with the 452,577 new car sales recorded for the January to May period representing a 2.5 per cent increase on year-to-date figures for the same period last year. Tony Weber, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, says light commercial vehicles were in May, with the Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Triton and Ford Ranger all appearing in the top five. The Hilux was the top-selling vehicle with 3,173 registrations. It was followed by the Mazda3 (2,876), Toyota Corolla (2,688), Mitsubishi Triton (2,683) and Ford Ranger (2,411). “In total, light commercial sales increased by one per cent and remain up 3.6 per cent year to date,” says Weber. “They were popular with government and business buyers in May with sales to these buyer types up by 5.9 and 2.7 per cent, respectively. “While light commercial sales to private buyers declined by 2.6 per cent compared to May 2014, private purchases of light commercials were up 11.2 per cent.” Weber says SUV sales rose by 5.8 per cent, which was led by sales of small SUVs. They jumped by more than 20 per cent compared to May 2014. “The vehicle type proved popular with private buyers, in particular,” says Weber. “Private buyers purchased 10.1 per cent more SUVs in May 2015 than in May 2014. Business and government purchases of SUVs remained steady. SUV sales are up by 13.5 per cent year to date. “Passenger car sales declined by 7.3 per cent, with the segment accounting for less than 44 per cent of May’s market. Year-to-date sales are down by five per cent.” Toyota was the top-selling brand in Australia last month with 17.1 per cent of the new car market. It was followed by Mazda (9.3 per cent), Hyundai (8.9 per cent), Holden (8.5 per cent) and Mitsubishi (6.6 per cent).