It’s another positive for the Australian economy, albeit with a bit of an assist from taxpayers.
Australian car sales are ending the year with a bit of a bang, a long way from the accelerating slide in the last months of 2008.
The 50% tax breaks for car purchases by small business (under $2 million a year turnover) continues to boost the fortunes of the Australian new car industry with registrations last month topping the same month last year for the first time in a year.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that in October an estimated (seasonally adjusted) 81,122 new cars were sold, up 3.7% from September 2009 and 3.3% higher than the October 2008 figure of 78,8552.
The figure for October was the second highest in a year and marginally behind the 81,1141 vehicles sold in June when a second tax break expired.
There’s now an expectation that car sales for November and December will also beat their 2008 levels because of the combined impact of this year’s tax break for small business, and the sharp falls in sales seen a year ago.
That means the final quarter of 2009 will see car sales at their highest level of any quarter for a year or more.
But the big imponderable is what the surge means to sales in 2010. Some economists argue there is a pull through factor.
But car industry figures saw that with a 5% cut in import tariffs to come in from January 1, plus the impact of the higher dollar, which allows a bit more wriggle room for importers, car sales could jump quickly in the first half.
The ABS said sales of all vehicle types increased in seasonally adjusted terms in October, compared to the previous month.
"Other vehicles increased by 10.6%, sports utility vehicles rose 3.7% and passenger vehicles rose 1.2%.
"When comparing October 2009 to October 2008, sports utility vehicles increased 11.5% while passenger vehicles and other vehicles rose 1.9% and 0.1% respectively," the ABS said.
The ABS said sales of new motor vehicles increased in all states or territories in seasonally adjusted terms in October from September, with Tasmania recording the largest percentage increase, up 6.7%, followed by South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory with rises of 5.3% and 4.6% respectively.
More than 46,890 passenger vehicles were sold in October of this year, the highest figure for 13 months, a further sign that consumers and some corporate buyers (fleets) are more confident, as the surveys of business and consumer confidence have been saying for the past two months.
Car sales in September of this year were up 3.1% on August (which were down because of the ending of one tax break in June).
