New vehicle sales in Australia slumped nearly 30% in August, thanks largely to the stage four lockdowns in Melbourne and stage 3 restrictions across the rest of the state.
But the weak demand from the rest of the country in the wake of the lockdowns and the constant small outbreaks in Sydney and parts of NSW didn’t help either.
Across the country, sales were down 28.8% last month to 60,986 from more than 85,000 in July 2019, according to the monthly sales report from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Demand for new cars and commercials in Victoria crashed by more than 65%, with just 8,347 vehicles old last month.
Year-to-date sales are down 20.4% on the eight months to August a year ago (when sales totaled 723,283) to 575,906.
Sales have fallen in 29 of the last 30 months, so the weakness pre-dates the emergence of COVID-19 earlier this year.
Toyota was the top-selling brand in August with 12,449 units, followed by Mazda on 6,921, Hyundai with 4,525, Kia with 4,521, and Mitsubishi with 4,308.
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber said while the overall industry was showing some response to stimulus packages, the story for Victoria was less than promising.
“The industry has moved swiftly to implement robust COVID-safe protocols to ensure the health and wellbeing of employees and customers is preserved,” he said.
“However, it is particularly difficult for our members and their Victorian dealer networks under the current stage four restrictions, and this is reflected in the reduced sales figures,” he said in Thursday’s statement.
