General News
16 December, 2024
Sales soften as the year ends
NEW vehicle sales results published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show a continuing softening in demand compared with the same month last year, coupled with continuing preference for hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology.
A total of 99,091 new vehicles were delivered during November which was a decrease of 11.6 per cent on the same period last year.
“From an historical perspective, the 2024 year-to-date result is strong,” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.
“However, the market is starting to show a number of clear trends. The first half of 2024 recorded market growth of 8.7 per cent compared with 2023. Since July, we have seen the market decline by 8.2 per cent compared with 2023,” he said.
“The private buyer segment continues to struggle with a decline of 16.6 per cent on November 2023. This follows falls of 14.2 per cent in October, 17.2 per cent in September and 15.9 per cent in August. This is a disturbing trend which illustrates how cost of living pressures are impacting households.
“Consumer preference remains clear with SUVs and light commercial vehicles (mainly dual-cab utes) making up the top 10 new vehicles sold while passenger vehicles fell to a monthly market share of just 13.7 per cent.”
Mr Weber said that November recorded another disappointing result for the sale of electric vehicles while hybrid and plug-in hybrid accounted for 16.9 per cent of November sales compared with 9.9 per cent last year.
Toyota was the market leader with sales of 20,562 during November, followed by Ford (8720), Mazda (7588), Kia (6410) and Mitsubishi (6205).
The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s top-selling vehicle with sales of 5526 followed by Ford Ranger (4981), Toyota Prado (3590), Toyota HiLux (3572) and the MG ZS (2794).
