Australian economists are suggesting that Australia is almost back to where it was before the global financial crisis hit last year and if the April new car sales figures are anything to go by then those economists are right.
While we didn’t set a record for new car sales in April we certainly did achieve the second highest April result on record and of course Toyota was way out in front yet again.
Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows that 81,401 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in April, up 27.3 per cent (or 17,436 vehicles) on the same month in 2009.
“There are signs of strength across a broad range of vehicle segments and buyer types,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.
“The strong result is certainly very encouraging and shows the competition between the brands is intense but challenges still remain,” he said.
“It has to be expected that recent interest rate increases will have some dampening effect on demand over coming months,” Mr McKellar said.
“However, the industry is hopeful that interest rates must now be at a level where further increases will be more difficult to justify,” he said.
The SUV segment again led the charge in April with an increase of 38 per cent; followed by passenger cars (up 28.5 per cent), light commercials (up 15.7 per cent) and then heavy commercials with a 5.4 per cent increase.
Toyota retained the top selling position in April with a market share of 20.5 per cent; followed by Holden with 12.2 per cent and then Ford with 10.1 per cent.
Year-to-date, 333,228 vehicles have been sold, an increase of 20.3 percent compared to the first four months of 2009.