Dismal year for car sales with demand down to GFC levels

Dismal sales in December capped a horrible year for the car industry which finished with its lowest total since 2011.

Car sales are down to 2011 levels. Picture; iStock.

Dismal sales in December capped a horrible year for the car industry which finished with its lowest total since 2011, when it was still wrestling with the global financial crisis.

Registrations of just 1,062,867 were down 7.8 per cent on 2018 and the year ended as it began with another month-on-month decline.

Demand has now been running in reverse for almost two years and compared with the record total set in 2017, showrooms attracted a whopping 126,000 fewer buyers.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, releasing the figures today, said it had been a tough year with a unique set of challenges.

Chief executive Tony Weber said these included “tightening of lending, movements in exchange rates, slow wages growth and, of course, the extreme environmental factors our country is experiencing”.

The December figures confirm buyers have been retreating from every vehicle type and even the SUV boom has ended with sales down almost 1000 a month over the year.

Ute demand also fell but the our bestseller remains Toyota’s Hilux and two other pick-ups, the Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton, made the top five.

Worst hit were traditional sedans and hatchbacks, which attracted 5200 fewer buyers a month.

The former darling of the nation’s driveways, the Holden Commodore, garnered fewer than 6000 sales and the decision to delete the model this year reflects a brand in crisis, with demand down 29 per cent overall.

Holden led a losing pack which took in former favourites such as Subaru (down 20 per cent), Honda (down 15 per cent) and Mazda (down 12 per cent).

Chinese brands were among the few winners, with booming demand for MG’s range of hatchbacks and SUVs, plus the larger SUVs and utes sold by LDV.

Alternative fuel vehicles also finished on a high note, with sales of hybrids more than doubling to 30,641.

Demand for electric vehicles – which include plug-in hybrids but exclude Tesla as it does not make figures public – also rose strongly with 2925 registrations, up from 1352 in the previous year.

However their share remains small with hybrids and electric vehicles taken together now accounting for 3.2 per cent of the market.

2019 TOP 10 CARS

1. Toyota Hilux – 47,649

2. Ford Ranger – 40,960

3. Toyota Corolla – 30,468

4. Hyundai i30 – 28,378

5. Mitsubishi Triton – 25,819

6. Mazda CX-5 – 25,539

7. Mazda 3 – 24,939

8. Toyota RAV4 – 24,260

9. Kia Cerato – 21,757

10. Mitsubishi ASX – 20,806

Source: FCAI

2019 10 BIGGEST LOSERS

1. Holden -29%

2. Jeep -25%

3. Subaru -20%

4. Audi -19%

5. Honda -15%

6. Jaguar -15%

7. Renault -14%

8. Peugeot -14%

9. Mazda -12%

10. Nissan -12%

Source: FCAI (brands with >1k sales)