Australia new vehicle sales notch another record in July: industry

[SYDNEY] Australian new vehicle sales recorded a third straight month of record sales in July, a hopeful sign for spending across the economy given consumers were confident enough to splash out on big ticket items.

The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' VFACTS report out on Thursday showed 92,754 new vehicles were sold in July, up 1.6 per cent on the same month last year. Both months had the same number of selling days.

That was the highest total for a July month on record. Sales for the year to date were running at 692,306, up 0.4 per cent on the same period of 2016.

Sales of sports utilities alone jumped 9.4 per cent in July, with the small and medium segment in demand. Sales of light commercial vehicles edged up 0.8 per cent after a run of very strong months, while the heavy vehicle market gained 14.5 per cent.

Toyota Motor Corp retained first place on the sales ladder with 19.3 per cent of the market, while Mazda Motor Corp had another upbeat month taking 10.3 per cent.

Hyundai Motor took third spot with 8.1 per cent. The Holden unit of General Motors followed with 7.0 per cent, ahead of Ford at 6.8 per cent.

REUTERS