Australian new car sales hit 98,639 vehicles in November, pushing new vehicle sales to 1,055,792 with one month still left in the year.

AUSTRALIAN NEW CAR sales have topped 1 million sales at the end of November with one month left in the year to sell. All up, Australians purchased 98,639 new vehicles bringing the total for this year, so far, to 1,055,792.

Sales year-to-date are up 3.9% on this time last year, while sales in November are up 6.9% on November 2014, representing the highest selling November on record.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber said that with one month of sales to go in 2015, the Australian automotive industry is looking towards a record year, and the fourth year ever where sales have topped 1.1 million.

“Both SUV and light commercial vehicle sales surged in November, with both segments seeing 16% increases on November 2014 sales, and the segments together representing almost 55% of the total vehicle market,” Mr Weber said. 

“While passenger car sales have declined by 3.1%, the segment is still the largest with 42.3% of the market in November 2015. Of the 41,726 passenger cars sold in November, a significant 44% were small passenger cars. The popularity of small passenger cars can also be seen in the top five seller lists released each month. The Toyota Corolla and the Mazda3, both small passenger cars, are the only vehicles to have appeared in the top five selling cars lists every month in 2015.” 

Private buyers showed an increasing preference for SUVs by purchasing 22% more SUVs than in November 2014. Business buyers also showed a preference for SUVs buying 17.9% more SUVs than in November 2014. 

In November, the Toyota Corolla took out the top spot as best-selling vehicle, with 3430 sales. The Corolla was followed by the Toyota Hilux (3369), Mazda3 (3104) Ford Ranger (3028) and Toyota Camry (3025). 

Toyota was the highest selling brand in November, with 18.7% of the market. Toyota was followed by Mazda with 9.9%, Holden with 9%, Hyundai with 8.5% and Nissan with 7.3%.