Aussie Motoring

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says the results of testing to establish the suitability of ethanol-blended petrol in motor vehicles has confirmed the accuracy of the information on the FCAI’s website.

The testing program, commissioned by the Australian Government and conducted by engineering firm Orbital Australia, focused on older vehicles listed by the FCAI as unsuitable for use with ethanol fuel blends.

On the basis of the study the Government recommends consumers continue to check the FCAI list for information on ethanol use in their vehicles.

“The information on FCAI’s website has been compiled with the participation of its members, representing almost all the motor vehicle brands sold in Australia,” said the Chief Executive of the FCAI, Peter Sturrock.

Mr Sturrock noted that Orbital Australia’s testing established that it would be inappropriate to allow five per cent ethanol E5 fuel to be sold unlabelled.

“The FCAI is pleased that the program has confirmed the suitability of the present fuel labeling arrangements,” he said.

The FCAI says it is essential that drivers of older vehicles equipped with carburetors check the vehicles’ fuel compatibility before using ethanol blends.

Motorists driving older fuel-injected vehicles would also be well advised to check the information on the FCAI website.

The FCAI confirms that all new Australian-made cars are suitable for 10 per cent enthanol blended petrol (E10) and that the vast majority of imported new cars sold in Australia are also compatible with E10 or E5.

“We welcome the results of the Government-commissioned testing program, which should give motorists absolute confidence in the information on ethanol suitability being provided by motor vehicle manufacturers,” said Mr Sturrock.

A full listing of the capability of various vehicle models to operate satisfactorily on ethanol blend petrol is available at www.fcai.com.au/ethanol

… but Toyota takes the flag again this month.

The Australian automotive industry has shaken off the effects of last year’s petrol price volatility and interest rate rises to post an all-time record sales total for the month of February.

Official VFACTS retail figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that 83,740 motor vehicles were sold last month – an increase of 6,294 or 8.1 per cent on February last year, and higher than the previous record for the month of 81,141 set in 2005.

The February result backs up record sales in January, meaning that for the year-to-date the market is running ahead of 2006 by 9.0 per cent or 13,227 vehicles.

“The car industry has really jumped out the blocks this year thanks to the combined effects of new model activity and intense retail competition,” said the Chief Executive of the FCAI, Peter Sturrock.

“It’s clearly a buyer’s market at the moment and consumers seem to have put aside any concerns about interest rates they might have had and responded to the great deals on offer,” he said.

Mr Sturrock said the sales boom was broadly based in February with strong growth in large vehicle sales as well as small.

“This suggests that petrol prices may be of slightly less concern to car buyers than they were a few months ago,” he said.

The Sports Utility Market (SUV) was up 10.4 per cent on the same month last year with the volume growth in that market evenly split between SUV Medium and SUV Small segment models.

For the second month in a row, sales in the Large car segment stabilised versus the same period of last year.

Holden Commodore was easily Australia’s best selling model in February with 5544 sales, while Toyota Aurion’s sales of 1817 were its best since launch last October.

“It is encouraging to local car markers to see buyers respond in large numbers to new Commodore and Aurion,” said Peter Sturrock.

Toyota topped the charts in February with 18,602 sales, ahead of Holden with 13,083, and Ford (9,110).

Holding the next four places were Mazda, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi – all of whom achieved sales and market share gains over the same month last year.