New Vehicle Market
For the second year in a row and only the second time ever, Australians bought more than one-million new vehicles during a calendar year.
New vehicle sales reached 1,012,164 units during 2008 which is 3.6 per cent lower than the previous year.
It was a challenging year for the industry with the market competing with record high fuel prices, rising interest rates and an increase in the luxury car tax.
However, for many months the figures defied the general economic downturn and ran at record levels.
In the last quarter of 2008, the global financial crisis began to impact on new vehicle sales as people became more cautious about spending and access to finance was restricted.
Some of the key statistics of the new vehicle market in 2008 are:
- The total passenger market reached 596,765 vehicles, a decrease of 40,254 or 6.3 per cent on the previous year.
- Light commercial market reached 185,016 vehicles, an increase of 7,460 or 4.2 per cent on the previous year.
- The SUV market reached 194,458 vehicles, a decrease of 3,718 or 1.9 per cent on the previous year
- Heavy commercial market reached 35,925 vehicles, a decrease of 1,306 or 3.5 per cent on the previous year
In terms of individual brand performance in 2008; Toyota maintained its market leadership for the 6th successive year with sales of 238,983 vehicles and a 23.6 per cent market share.
GM Holden was second place with sales of 130,338 vehicles and a market share of 12.9 per cent and Ford was third with 104,715 vehicle sales and 10.3 per cent of the market.
The Holden Commodore was the top-selling vehicle model in 2008, the thirteenth year in a row that the model has held that position.
The FCAI forecasts that 880,000 new vehicles will be sold during 2009.
