The Australian new car market has now been through nineteen consecutive months of decreasing sales according to data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

 

Total sales for October numbered 82,456 vehicles, a decrease of 8262 sales, or 9.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding month last year.

 

The year to date total is now almost 78,000 units (8.0 per cent) lower than the same period in 2018.

 

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI said: “While the drought and other domestic conditions are impacting the market, our key concern is the effect over-regulation of the financial sector is having on new vehicle sales.”

 

“The FCAI and our members have been concerned about the risk averse approach to lending in Australia for some time and see improved access to finance as a key to driving economic growth in 2020.”

 

“Of particular interest is the fact that sales are down across all buyer types, with private sales down 5.2 per cent compared to October 2018, business sales are down 8.2 per cent and government sales are down 7.3 per cent.”

 

October 2018 and 2019 has the same number of selling days (26.4) meaning the decrease in sales equates to 313 vehicles per day.

 

SUVs fell by 3.0 per cent (down 1201 sales), passenger cars dropped by 15.3 per cent (down 4249 sales), while light commercials were down by 18.2 per cent (down 2122 sales).

 

Toyota remained the top-selling brand in October with 16,988 sales for 20.6 per cent market share, followed by Hyundai (7455 for 9 per cent market share), Mazda (6370 sales for 7.7 per cent market share), Kia (5062 sales for 6.1 per cent market share) and Ford (4891 for 5.9 per cent market share).

 

Kia continues to defy the downturn, the Korean brand finished fourth for the month with a 10.5 per cent increase.

  

The Toyota HiLux (3516 sales) remains anchored at the top of the leader board, followed by the Ford Ranger (3160), Hyundai i30 (2216), Toyota RAV4 (2132) and Toyota Corolla (2117).

 

 

Toyota HiLux - 3516

Ford Ranger - 3160

Hyundai i30 - 2216

Toyota RAV4 - 2132

Toyota Corolla - 2117

Toyota LandCruiser - 2101

Kia Cerato - 1827

Mazda CX-5 - 1708

Hyundai Tucson - 1693

Nissan X-Trail - 1592

 

 

Toyota - 16,988

Hyundai - 7455

Mazda - 6370

Kia - 5062

Ford - 4891

Mitsubishi - 4811

Volkswagen - 4220

Nissan - 4011

Subaru - 3303

Holden - 3086