SYDNEY: Sales of new vehicles in Australia dipped modestly in September after two months of outsized growth, though sales of sports utility vehicles continued to roar ahead in a further sign of resilience in consumer spending.
The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries estimated that sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent in September. Sales had risen sharply in both August and July as the supply of vehicles from Japan recovered from natural disasters earlier in the year.
Sales were still up 2.1 percent on September last year, an improvement from July when they were down 1.7 percent on the year. Back in June, the annual drop had been 11.6 percent.
Notably, sales of sport utility vehicles were up 5.6 percent on September last year, after a 19 percent increase in August. Sales of light and heavy trucks also boasted sizable gains, pointing to healthy business investment.
In raw terms, total vehicle sales of 86,819 were down 1.4 percent on August. For the year so far, sales of 752,128 are down 3.7 percent on the same period of 2010.
Toyota's sales continued to recover after supplies of its cars took a particularly hard knock from the earthquake and tsunami. The company held 20 percent of the Australian market in September, up from 18 percent in August and 16 percent in July.
The Holden unit of GM took 12.7 percent of the market in September, while Ford regained third spot with 9.4 percent. Hyundai picked up to 8.6 percent, while Mazda had 7.0 percent.
For the year to date, Toyota tops the sales table followed by Holden and Ford.
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