WA new motor vehicle sales rise 4.35%

Western Australia has joined the rest of the nation, excluding Tasmania, in posting a significant jump in new motor vehicle sales in November compared to the previous month, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data has showed.

Specifically, the country experienced a 5.5 per cent jump in sales in seasonally adjusted terms.

WA recorded an increase of 4.35 per cent, behind the Northern Territory, Victoria and New South Wales.

Northern Territory recorded the largest percentage increase, rising by 13.2 per cent, followed by Victoria and New South Wales, rising by 7.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively.

However, new motor vehicle sales decreased in Tasmania by 1.2% for November 2009 compared to October 2009.

The ABS suggested this increase may have been fuelled by businesses taking advantage of a tax break that is due to end on December 31.

The federal government's 50 per cent investment tax allowance, one of several stimulus measures that have helped steer the economy through the global recession, has given vehicles sales a major lift.

In November a total 85,943 vehicles were sold while vehicle sales in the year to November soared by 15.8 per cent.

A year earlier, in the 12 months to November 2008, vehicle sales had plunged by around 18 per cent, when the industry was gripped by the global financial crisis.

The data traditionally marks the last major economic report from the ABS for the year.