SA: Vehicle sales soar

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2000
SA: Vehicle sales soar

By Tim Dornin, National Motoring Correspondent

ADELAIDE, Aug 4 AAP - The GST revived the new car and truck market last month, with
sales soaring almost 30 per cent.

Although July is traditionally quiet for the industry, the Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries said today 79,449 cheaper new vehicles were retailed, a 29.6 per cent improvement
on the 61,319 sold in June.

The result was also 26.3 per cent better than the 62,904 units sold in July last year
and provided vehicle companies with renewed hope for continued improvements under the
new tax regime.

The chamber said while the market to the end of June was still six per cent behind
compared to the first seven months of 1999, it now believed total sales for the full year
would reach 780,000 units.

To do that the sales in the second half would need to top 425,000 units, a record performance.

Toyota was the market leading company in July with 17,767 units ahead of Holden on
14,786 and Ford on 11,818.

Mitsubishi was the next best with 5,651 but the troubled manufacturer's effort was
still below the 6,060 vehicles the company sold in July last year.

It was also nearly outsold by a surprising Nissan which managed 5,228, its best performance
for several years.

Despite Toyota's strong showing last month, Holden continued to lead the market on
a year-to-date basis with 83,760 units compared to 82,781 for Toyota and 65,719 for Ford.

Holden also had the top selling car again in July with demand for the Commodore reaching
7,596 units, still a clear victor over the Ford Falcon on 6,642.

In the medium car class the Toyota Camry/Vienta range easily beat the Mitsubishi Magna/Verada
with 4,478 units to 1,844 while Toyota's new locally-made large car, the Avalon, did well
in its first full month with 2,419 units, suggesting the company's initial target of 25,000
a year was achievable.

In the small car sector the Toyota Corolla was dominant with 3,625 units while the
runout of the superceded Nissan Pulsar propelled it to second spot on 3,005.

Well behind was the long-time leader in the segment, Hyundai with the Korean producer
having its performance somewhat diluted as it continued to run-out superceded cars in
its Excel range at the same time as it was also selling the replacement Accent.

The result was healthy Excel sales of 1,484 units and more modest demand for the Accent at 989.

Hyundai Automotive Distributors Australia managing director Doug Croker said Accent's
performance was good considering dealers were focussed on clearing Excel stocks, a trend
that would continue in August.

"Accent will properly hit its straps without Excel in September as I expect this month
will be somewhat similar to July as final Excel stocks sell out," he said.

The top 10 selling car companies in July:



Toyota 17,767 units

Holden 14,786

Ford 11,818

Mitsubishi 5,651

Nissan 5,228

Hyundai 3,681

Honda 2,878

Subaru 2,706

Mazda 2,638

Daewoo 1,972



AAP tjd/

KEYWORD: MOTOR SALES NIGHTLEAD

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