Tax policy boosts sales

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) believes the government’s Investment Boost initiative, announced as part of the 2025 Budget in May, was a key factor behind a resurgence in new vehicle sales las month. 

A total of 11,862 new vehicles were registered in June, making it the second-best month of the year so far. 

The figure was a 26 per cent increase from 9,406 registrations in the same month of 2024 and up from 10,251 units in May this year. 

Aimee Wiley, MIA’s chief executive, says the coalition’s introduction of the Investment Boost policy, which allows a business to immediately deduct 20 per cent of the cost of a new asset, is possibly a key factor behind last month’s rise.

“The June quarter ANZ Business Investment Survey showed central government policy as a key driver for firms planning to invest, and this likely refers to the Investment Boost announced in the May Budget,” explains Wiley, pictured.

“And a MYOB survey of more than 500 small and medium-sized businesses in May put passenger vehicles, including cars, vans and utes, at the top of the list of new assets to purchase. 

“Further analysis of the June numbers shows the lift has come from rental, business and private buyers alike.” 

A breakdown of last month’s figures shows cars and SUVs totalled 8,245 registrations, which was up from 6,817 in May and a nearly 36 per cent increase on the 6,059 sales in June 2024. 

As for light commercial vehicle sales, these came in 3,204 last month compared with 3,016 in May and 2,753 in June 2024. 

The MIA notes June was the best month for this category since April 2024. 

In terms of motive power, the 1,073 battery electric vehicle sales were the best monthly performance since the end of the clean car discount in December 2023. Tesla’s Model Y was the top model in this category on 407 units.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and hybrids also had what the MIA describes as a good month, with 912 and 3,152 registrations respectively.

The BYD Sealion 6 led the way for PHEVs with 479 sales and the Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling hybrid on 781.