Booming motor vehicle sales in Western Australia have bucked the national trend, as every other market fell dragging the national total into negative territory.
Booming motor vehicle sales in Western Australia have bucked the national trend, as every other market fell dragging the national total into negative territory.
WA vehicle sales topped 100,000 for the second year running, growing by more than 10 per cent while nationally the trend was a drop of 2.6 per cent, the second highest on record after the previous bumper year.
Preliminary figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that a total of 962,521 cars, trucks and buses were sold in Australia in 2006.
State-by-state figures show WA had an outstanding year, with 110,661 vehicles sold during 2006, a rise from 100,595 the previous year.
WA was the only state where vehicle sales grew, with that trend continuing in December when 9,458 vehicles were sold, a 9 per cent increase on 2005.
Toyota was the star achiever for the period, selling 25,721 vehicles for the 12 months, a jump of 22 per cent putting it well ahead of Holden's 16,531 (down 4 per cent) and Ford's 11,318 (up 4.5 per cent).
As a consequence, Toyota's WA market share grew 2.3 percentage points to 23.2 per cent, Holden slipped to 14.9 per cent from 17.2 per cent and Ford slipped to 10.2 per cent from 10.8 per cent.
Toyota was claiming the triple crown of top passenger, top commercial and top overall titles.
Hyundai is the next biggest player in the WA market with 9.2 per cent, slightly lower than 2005.
In the WA truck market, Isuzu dominated with 1,016 vehicles sold for the year, a jump of almost 26 per cent, while Hino gained almost 12 per cent to hit 718 sales.
The national result is 2.6 per cent down on the record of 988,269 set in 2005, but still 7292 up on the previous record set in 2004.
Interestingly, the Cycling Promotion Fund, Australia's peak bicycle promotion group, said 1,273,781 new bikes were sold last year, well ahead of the new cars and trucks retailed.
Below is the full release from the FCAI:
The Australian automotive industry has posted its second highest annual sales total on record.
Preliminary figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that a total of 962,521 cars, trucks and buses were sold in Australia in 2006.
This figure is expected to rise by approximately 200 when the December sales results of a heavy commercial vehicle distributor are included.
The result is 2.6 per cent down on the record of 988,269 set in 2005, but still 7292 up on the previous record set in 2004.
Chief executive of the FCAI Peter Sturrock said that the result was excellent given the combined effects of interest rates and fuel prices.
"The rise and fall of fuel prices during 2006 was as unpredictable as it was dramatic and interest rate speculation created further uncertainty among consumers, so in those circumstances sales were encouragingly strong," he said.
Toyota was the best-selling brand in 2006 for the fourth year in a row with a 22.2 per cent share of the total market.
It was followed by Holden (15.2 per cent), Ford (11.9 per cent) and Mazda (6.6 per cent) - their finishing positions unchanged from 2005.
Mitsubishi (5.6 per cent), Nissan (5.5 per cent) and Hyundai (4.8 per cent) dropped one spot each - all three leap-frogged by Honda (5.6 per cent) in an extremely tight sales tussle.
Volkswagen moved into the top ten by taking the spot previously held by Kia.
The 2006 results show some significant changes in the sales mix between vehicle segments.
Light car sales rose by 20,196 or 21.1 per cent while Small car sales remained much the same, up 1345 or 0.6 per cent.
"Light cars became more popular last year, not just because they were more fuel-efficient, but because they were roomier, more practical and better specified for the money than ever before," said Mr Sturrock.
The Large car segment and the Medium SUV segment both suffered significant slowdowns - falling by 30,775 and 10,632 sales respectively.
In contrast to the apparent move to smaller vehicles was the strength of the Luxury SUV segment, which grew 1739 or 10.5 per cent.
"Australians have not fallen out of love with large cars and in common with almost every other market in the world it is likely that we will continue to buy the most space, power and performance that we can afford."
Mr Sturrock pointed to the success of the 4X4 Pick-up/Cab Chassis segment which grew by 4911 vehicles or 7.8 per cent.
"We think many of these four-wheel drive utes are being bought as much for private use as a tool-of-trade," he said.
The buoyancy of the segment was in contrast to the Light Truck market as a whole, which declined slightly by 6087 vehicles or 3.6 per cent.
The FCAI is forecasting a steady outlook for 2007 with motor vehicle sales of 970,000.
"Notwithstanding recent rises, interest rates remain relatively low by historical standards and most new motor vehicles offer consumers compelling value for money, so we believe the market will continue to travel at its current high speed," he said.
