New car sales down in October

New car sales across Australia have gone backwards for the 19th month in a row, the country's peak motor industry group says, with sales in Western Australia also down sharply.

The number of new vehicles sold in WA was down 10.3 per cent compared to the same month last year, and car sales for the year to date also fell 6.2 per cent from 81,927 to 76,863, according to a tally issued by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Wednesday.

In WA, small car sales were down 31.8 per cent, while large cars had the biggest decline in sales for the year gone, down 46.2 per cent.

Toyotas are the most-sold new vehicle in the state, despite dropping 17.3 per cent for the month and 4 per cent in the past year.

The number of vehicles sold across Australia last month was down 9.1 per cent compared to October 2018, following a 6.9 per cent slide in September.

"The FCAI and our members have been concerned about the risk-averse approach to lending in Australia for some time and see improved access to finance as a key to driving economic growth in 2020," FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said.

FCAI said sales to private individuals fell 5.2 per cent, business sales slumped 8.2 per cent and purchases by government were down 7.3 per cent in October when contrasted with the same month in 2018.

Sales in October dropped by 21.1 per cent in the ACT, 19 per cent in the Northern Territory, 14.7 per cent in Tasmania, 11.4 per cent in South Australia, 8.8 per cent in Victoria, 8.5 per cent in NSW and 7.2 per cent in Queensland.

A total of 82,456 new cars were sold last month, a decline that averages out to 313 fewer vehicle sales each day than for the same period last year.