DESPITE the continued fall in sales figures year on year, with June down from 130,300 in June 2018 to 117,817 this year, or 9.6 per cent compared to 2018, Toyota has a reason to celebrate with four models in the top ten vehicles sold last month.
Bringing home the bacon again is the Toyota HiLux, which continues in top spot, ahead of the Ford Ranger, Hyundai i30, Toyota Corolla and Mazda CX-5. The balance of the top ten includes the Kia Cerato, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda3 and Toyota’s RAV4 and LandCruiser.
As well as providing its monthly update, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released sales figures that show year to date 2019 sales totalling 554,466 units for the first half of the year.
According to Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, the most recent results (June) reflects the tough market conditions and highlights the sensitive nature of the new vehicle market.
“Over the past six months we have seen various conditions and circumstances which adversely affected the market,” he said.
“These include a tightening of financial lending, environmental factors such as drought and flood, and a strongly contested federal election,” he added.
“In addition, the continuing incursion of Luxury Car Tax on a federal level, and now in some cases on a state level as well, is a major disincentive. It could just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the new car buyer.”
When compared to June 2018, passenger vehicle sales in June 2019 totaled 33,864, a decrease of 18.5 per cent across the segment. SUV sales totaled 53,509, a decrease of 4.7 per cent, and light commercial vehicles totaled 26,372, a decrease of 7.0 per cent.
Figures for the sale of new vehicles in Australia now sit lower for the last six months than 2018 and 2017, reflecting a continuing decline across the market over the past few years, but there are some standouts.
In June, Subaru doubled the sames of its Subaru Forester, year on year, while the Hyundai Tucson and Toyota Prado also grew their numbers.
