New car sales bounce back in November after 31 months of decline

After years in the doldrums new vehicle sales finally showed signs of life in November as dealers look forward to a road-trip Christmas.

Toyota’s Hi-lux has regained its position as Australia’s best selling vehicle. Picture: Supplied.

New car sales lifted for the first time in two and a half years in November as the Australian economy kicked back into gear, according to new figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

Over November a total of 92,205 new vehicles were sold across the country, an increase of more than 10,000 sales - or 12.4 per cent on November 2019.

It is the first time the new car industry has recorded a year on year sales increase since April 2018 - 31 months ago.

Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said the industry was pleased to see an uptick in sales. “Recent Australian new vehicles sales have seen 31 months of straight decline,” Mr Weber said.

“This has been caused by a number of well recognised factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and environmental and financial issues.

“With the Australian economy showing improvement, it’s good news to see new vehicle sales trending in a more positive direction.”

Mr Weber said the increase in sales could be attributed to an economy on the mend, with national account data on Wednesday showing growth of 3.3 per cent in the September quarter, as well as relaxed lending rules and a nation-bound populace.

“We believe there are a few contributing factors, including rising optimism from the Australian public as COVID-19 restrictions ease,” he said.

“This increase in consumer confidence is backed by government support programs during the pandemic, the easing of lending restrictions, and the current competitive automotive market.

“We also believe that, given our inability to travel internationally, many Australians are choosing to purchase a new vehicle and holiday at home this year – and we fully expect to see a notable increase in family driving trips over the Christmas season.”

During the month SUVs claimed the majority of the market, representing 52.5 per cent of total sales - twice the share of the market they claimed in November 2019.

Light commercial vehicles represented 22.3 per cent of the market while passenger vehicles claimed 21.8 per cent of the market.

The top five selling models for the month were the Toyota Hi Lux with 5,038 sales, the Ford Ranger with 4,260 sales, the Toyota RAV4 with 3,800 sales, the Toyota Landcruiser with 2,947 sales and the Toyota Corolla with 2,774 sales.

Unsurprisingly, Toyota was the top selling brand for the month, with 23,204 sales, followed by Mazda with 9,053 sales, Hyundai with 6,903 sales, Ford with 6,613 sales and Mitsubishi with 5,488 sales.

In October 82,456 new vehicles were sold. Over the calendar year to date, 821,316 sales were recorded, a 16.1 per cent decrease on the same period in 2019 when 978,628 vehicles were sold.

The new car sales results come off the back of quarterly motorcycle sales figures released in October that showed a 26.4 per cent year on year boost on sales to 79,623 bikes.

Mr Weber said the strong bike sales could be attributed to strong recreational demand for off-roaders.

“Off-road bikes have grown in popularity as people turn to close-to-home recreational pursuits during the pandemic restrictions,” he said.