By Peter Brewer
Canberra's new car sales have fallen by more than 10 per cent compared with the same quarter last year, and the territory now rates alongside Victoria as one of the worst-affected markets in the country.
The national new car market fell 7.9 per cent over the same period, the worst first quarter for the industry in five years.
The Mazda3 was Canberra's best-selling car in a slow first quarter for the industry.
While the ACT market dropped by 10.3 per cent, it was not quite as bad as Victoria, which recorded the nation's worst first-quarter decline of 10.5 per cent.
A total of 4446 cars were sold in the ACT in the first three months of 2019, with a huge 23.5 per cent decline in passenger car sales across all segments and sizes aside from passenger vans.
The in-vogue sport utility vehicles market was the only positive for the ACT, up 2.5 per cent over the first quarter of last year.
Canberra's market is distorted by the relative size and strength of the brand dealerships. Although Toyota is a clear vehicle market leader nationally, in the ACT its lead is much slimmer.
Toyota sold just 40 vehicles more in the ACT than Mazda over the first three months of 2019, with Hyundai in third place. Mitsubishi, which has the newest light commercial vehicle on the market with the Triton, came in fourth just ahead of Honda.
Canberra car dealer John McGrath.
Just 28 electric vehicles were sold in the ACT in the first quarter of 2019, 14 of which went to government fleets. This sales number will accelerate in the months ahead as the ACT government commits to making all of its 600-strong fleet vehicles electric-powered "where suitable".
The most popular new car in the ACT for the first three months of the year was the Mazda3, with 193 sales, followed by the Mazda CX-5 (157 sales) and the Mitsubishi Triton (139).
One of Canberra's largest dealers, John McGrath, said the uncertainty ahead of the federal election and the tightening of financing in the wake of the royal commission into the banking industry has sapped the confidence of Canberra car buyers.
"It's a challenging time; I think when we have a combination of a lack of consumer confidence, reduced access to finance and the uncertainty of the upcoming election, that combination makes for a tough market," Mr McGrath said.
"The premium car market, in particular, is feeling it the worst. Some brands are down 10 per cent, others as much as 40 per cent."
However, he said that buyer confidence should return quickly once the federal election is over.
"People in Canberra like certainty. But I think we won't see a full flow-through of buyer confidence to the market until the second half of the year."
The national industry body described the overall market as "cautious, given the number of headwinds in the Australian market".