According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), new vehicle sales figures for April 2019 totalled 75,550 units, an 8.9 per cent decrease on April 2018 when 82,930 sales were recorded.

Sales figures so far this year totalled 344,088 units, an 8.1 per cent decrease on the same period in 2018.

“The results for April are in line with trends for year-to-date 2019. We have seen a decrease of around eight per cent across the first four months of the year,” said Tony Weber, CEO of the FCAI.

“This decrease is the result of a number of factors in the Australian market, including the downturn in the housing market, the tightening of lending practices, environmental factors such as drought and flood, and of course the imminent Federal Government election.”

Passenger vehicles totalled 23,816 sales or 31.5 per cent of the market SUVs totalled 33,190 sales or 43.9 per cent of the market and Light Commercial vehicles totalled 15,601 sales or 20.6 per cent of the market.

Toyota claimed top spot with 15,135 sales, then Mazda with 7,644 sales, Hyundai with 6,469, Ford with 4,803, and Mitsubishi with 4,717.

Source: Motor Trader E-Magazine (May 2019)

10 May 2019