Australia racks up 1 million new vehicle sales – November down by 4.8%
Mazda3 topped new car sales in November as Australia racks up 1 million new vehicle sales, with predictions of full-year sales to top 1.1 million.
THE RACE IS ON between the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla to claim the crown as Australia’s best-selling car in 2014. “Only 679 sales separate the Toyota Corolla and the Mazda3. While the Toyota Corolla is ahead in sales for 2014, the Mazda3 was the top selling vehicle in November,” said Tony Weber, FCAI chief executive.
Despite predictions of topping 1.1 million new car sales in Australia for 2014, sales in November (92,232) are down by 4.8% on the same time last year, while sales for the year so far are down 2.2%.
“Overall, sales across the nation are down 4.8% for the month. In particular, sales fell significantly in the mining states of Queensland and Western Australia, with sales down 8.5 and 9.6%, respectively,” Weber said.
Looking around the States and Territories, sales fell 7.5% in the Australian Capital Territory, 7% in Northern Territory, 16.8% in Tasmania, 4.6% in Victoria, 5.3% in South Australia and only 0.3% in New South Wales.
While passenger car and light commercial sales continued their respective declines of 12.2% and 4.9%, SUV sales are up by 7.3% on November 2013 figures. “Small and medium SUVs showed large growth, increasing 17.7 and 19.3 per cent, respectively, on November 2013 sales figures,” Weber said.
The Mazda3 was the top selling vehicle in November 2014 with 3499 vehicles sold. It was followed by the Toyota Corolla (3264), Toyota Hilux (2920), Hyundai i30 (2886) and Holden Commodore (2200).
