New vehicle sales down 8.1 per cent

92,561 new vehicles were sold in the month of May this year according to the latest data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). This is a sizable downturn of 8.1 per cent for the same month in 2018. 

Year to date sales sat at 436,649 which is down from 475,222 for the same period in 2018, another 8.1 per cent decrease. 

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said: “The Australian market has seen the same trend throughout 2019, resulting in an overall decrease of around eight per cent for the first five months of the year.

“We have attributed this trend to known market factors such as an economic downturn, drought, political events, the tightening of financial lending and lack of confidence in the market. 

“Now that the Federal election has been finalised, we are optimistic that the market will improve over the next few months,”Mr Weber said.

Toyota remains top of the pops with 18,820 sales. This leaves Mazda daylight 2^nd with 8,578 sales, Hyundai had 8,106 sales, Ford 5,788 and Kia 5,533.

Again ute sales remained strong taking out the two top spots via theToyota Hi-Lux (4,206 sales) and the Ford Ranger (3,972 sales). Third place was taken by Toyota RAV4 and forth was the Hyundai i30.