March New Car Sales Increase by a Record Breaking 25.2%

In December 2009 the car sales figure dubbed ' the magic million'  seemed like a far off prospect left back in 2007/08. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry  chief Andrew Mckellar predictied 2011 as the year Australia would return to pre-GFC sales levels.  However the outstanding March new car sales figure of 94,744 was enough to change Mr Mckellar’s somber tune from last year,

“This is an outstanding March result and provides further evidence that the marketplace is returning to pre-global financial crisis levels”.

The affirming result was driven by a return in confidence to middle Australia, with families feeling reassured the worst is over. New family cars were in high demand for March with the SUV section rising 44.1% followed by passenger cars at 23.5%. Mr Mckellar recommended that ‘private buyers should move to take advantage of the current rate levels’ to avoid the coming interest rate hikes from the RBA.

In the business sector rental car companies were the force behind growth in sales, up 331.5% for March in line with increased business demand and tourism activity.

Toyota proved its reputation is still sterling with an increase of market share to 21.4% with Holden coming in second at 12.4%.

The year-to-date figures are 18.2% higher than last year with an increase of 38,857 sold. Good news all round for the new car market, with smiles abundant in the showrooms of Holden, Mazda, Hyundai, Nissan & Toyota who all posted over 20% increase in sales compared to the same period in 2009. Not so good were hummer and Saab who posted 14 and 0 sales respectively (yes zero).

Below are the winners of 2010 so far.

Top Ten Selling Brands by Monthly Sales & Year to Date Sales

Top Ten Selling Models by Monthly Sales