Imports down across the board

A total of 25,735 passenger and light commercial vehicles were imported into the country last month, which was down 13 per cent on the same month last year, when 29,457 vehicles crossed the border. There were 9,825 new cars and 2,969 new light commercials, for a total of 12,794 new light vehicles. Used light vehicles totaled 13,494, of which 459 were light commercials. Used car imports were substantially down on the previous month, when 19,579 vehicles were imported, only 13,035 came in during April, a decrease of 33 per cent on March this year. The top country of origin for used cars was Japan with 12,288 units, which was 94.3 per cent of the market share for the month. Australia followed with 433 vehicles - a market share of 3.3 per cent, followed by Great Britain with 152 used cars and a 1.2 per cent share of the monthly used car imports.