Another well-performing part of the so-called two speed economy (so far it’s probably up to five, if you count the strong sectors of the economy) is the auto industry.
As suggested last month, new car sales are on track to top the million vehicle mark in 2010 for only the third time.
Car sales of more than one million last occurred in 2007 and 2008.
In 2009 they fell to just under 937,000, but that was better than it seemed because of the boost from federal government stimulus measures.
In the year to November, car sales totalled 948,987 vehicles, up 11.8% on the same period in 2009, according to figures from the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Assuming another 80,000 vehicle month, sales this year will top out at around 1.028 million, which would be the second highest on record after the 1.012 million of 2008 and the 1.049 million of 2007.
At the AGM of Automotive Holdings last month, the country’s largest listed car retailer, CEO Bronte Hewson estimated that 2010 new car sales would be around 1.025 million.
He said that would be a rise of 9.3% on 2009. "Similar sales are expected for 2011".
Official figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed that 87,342 passenger cars, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and commercial vehicles were sold in November, up 1.8% (or 1,509 vehicles) on the same month in 2009.
That’s a bit better than the 0.9% rise in October, on the same month in 2009.
“These figures show new car sales continue to outperform other economic indicators, including retail spending and business investment,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said in a statement.
“Much of the strength of the market can be attributed to the affordability of new vehicles, evidenced by the healthy sales to private buyers (up 9.6% in November),” Mr McKellar said.
“It is now clear that total sales for 2010 will safely exceed one million units – only the third time this will have been achieved,” he said.
The SUV segment was again the strongest performer during November, recording an increase of 13.3%; followed by passenger cars (up 5%) and then heavy commercials (up 6.2%).
The light commercial segment fell by nearly 19% from a year ago because of the absence of tax incentives from the federal government this year.
Toyota was the top selling maker last month with with 19,911 sales, followed by Holden with 11,354, then Ford with 7,844 units.
