A new record has been set for vehicle sales in the month of May, according to the official VFACTS data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
The mighty Hilux is our favourite vehicle
Overall, 96,069 vehicles were sold in May 2012, an increase of 24.1% (or 18,668 vehicles) compared to May 2011, which was disrupted with supply issues from Japan and Thailand.
On a year to date basis, this is an 8.8% increase (35,209 vehicles) on sales for the first five months in 2011.
Overall, 435,288 vehicles have been sold since the beginning of 2012.
Our passion for SUV’s has not abated either with sales increasing by 56.6% compared with May last year and 30.3% (28,291) compared with the same period in 2011.
The Upper Large SUV segment saw the biggest increase (85% or 597 vehicles), followed by Small SUV’s with a 77.2% (2,282 vehicles) compared with May 2011.
Sales for some other vehicle categories were also promising, with the passenger vehicle market up 13.9% (5,908 units) and the light truck segment by 19.8% (3,006) compared with May last year.
Sales of locally manufactured vehicles are up 11% compared to the same period last year.
The popular Mazda3 was again pipped at the post in May by the Toyota HiLux with 4,626 sales.
Toyota was the best performing brand overall in May selling 20,443 vehicles, followed by Holden with 9,017 and then Mazda with 8,346.
Some of the other highlights include -
- Jeep sales totalled 1,335 which represents a 93.8% jump on May sales last year.
- Subaru achieved a record May with 3803 sales.
- Holden secured a 9.4% market share in May, selling 9,017 vehicles for the month.
- The home-grown Cruze was Holden’s top-selling car.
- Nissan jumped ahead of Hyundai to be the 5th best selling brand for the month after recording 6966 sales.
- Renault sold 420 vehicles which represents their best month since 2010.
- Suzuki had its best ever May in Australia after recording 2450 sales.
