Aussie Motoring

With the slow slide into recession that we’ve been experiencing here in Australia it was only a matter of time before the impact was felt by car makers here in Australia and October was the month that it all began.

A drop in new vehicles sales during October reflects the broader slowdown in the Australian and world economies as well as reduced access to wholesale and consumer finance.

Official VFACTS data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 79,105 cars, trucks and buses were sold in October - down 11.4 per cent (10,184 vehicles) compared to the same month last year.

Year-to-date, new vehicle sales are down 0.9 per cent compared to the same period last year with a total of 864,037 vehicles being sold.

“These figures confirm that the global financial crisis is having an impact on broader economic activity, including the new vehicle market,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“While it is clear that current economic uncertainties have affected consumer demand, the industry is also monitoring the impact of liquidity constraints on the availability of wholesale finance to dealers,” he said.

“The industry is working systematically to find alternative solutions to this issue in an effort to avoid the risk of further disruption to the market.

“The most recent interest rate cut was well justified and will hopefully go some way to rebuilding confidence in the marketplace,” he said.

Light commercial vehicle sales were positive in October, with the segment recording a 7.9 per cent increase compared to the same month last year.

All other segments recorded decreases during October: passenger vehicles down 13.8 per cent, SUVs down 19.1 per cent and heavy commercial vehicles down 15.9 per cent.

Toyota retained the top sales position in October with a market share of 23.6 per cent, followed by Holden with 12.9 per cent and Ford with 10.8 per cent.

Year-to-date Toyota sold 202,511 vehicles, followed by Holden with 109,771 vehicles and Ford with 89,983 vehicles.

Every cloud has a silver lining … at least for someone … and the current economic storm clouds certainly have some silver linings for any Australian new car buyer who has the cash or the credit to make a purchase right now. And things could get even better in the near future.

Right now Holden has their fuel offer, Ford has fleet price discounts for ordinary buyers, Mazda, Toyota and Hyundai have drive-away deals on some models, Mitsubishi has a cash-back offer on all its vehicles, Mercedes has an interest rate deal and Nissan is offering drive-away deals on all models plus fuel deals on some of the range.

And yes you did read that correctly … it might be hard to believe but even Toyota is struggling to move some vehicles.

But wait … things could get even better for new-car buyers. New.com is reporting that holding yards along the east coast are packed full of new vehicles that importers have brought into the country and now can’t shift. If that’s the case then those offers are just going to get a whole lot sweeter.

Teson Trims in Euroa is set to close after Administrators failed to find a buyer for the company. Union representatives suggest that the closure is due to heavy cost cutting by the major Australian manufacturers who have squeezed Teson Trims to the point where they cannot meet the price demanded by those big companies.

When we look at a new car the real enthusiasts among us want to know about that car’s performance. How many seconds does it take to reach 100km/h is one popular measure of a car’s performance.

When we look at a car manufacturer’s performance we begin to look at how much money they’re making … or not making as the case may be. And in America the case is that the homegrown manufacturers are not making any money at all. GM, Ford, Chrysler are all making losses that are measured in dollar terms that few of us can really comprehend.

But here’s one measure of performance that’s easier to understand and it relates to Chrysler. Chrysler are selling just 3 cars per month per dealership. Is it any wonder that Daimler are now looking to sell of their remaining share of Chrysler?

It makes you wonder how Ford Australia and General Motors Holden measure up on the basis of new cars sold per dealership per month.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 77,324 cars, trucks and buses were sold in August - down 10,882 vehicles (12.3%) compared to the same month last year.

Year to date new vehicle sales are up 0.7 per cent on the same time last year, with 703,995 vehicles being sold.

“The August downturn reflects the broader slowdown in domestic demand which is largely attributable to previous interest rate rises,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“Yesterday’s official interest rate cut is a welcome move and will help renew future confidence in the marketplace but unfortunately the figures suggest it may have come too late and further reductions may be necessary,” he said.

The figures for August show that sales of vehicles in core ‘luxury’ segments fell by 19.3 per cent compared to the same month last year.

“There is clear evidence that the slowdown has been compounded by the proposed hike in the luxury car tax and wider economic uncertainties,” Mr McKellar said.

“This unnecessary and unfair tax grab is continuing to have a damaging impact on the Australian car industry,” he said.

“It is economically irresponsible to persist with this measure in the current circumstances,” Mr McKellar said.

Sales in all segments of the passenger vehicle market were down.  Sales of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) were down except for the SUV large segment, which increased 23.3 per cent in August.

There were two strong performing segments in the commercial vehicle market - light buses were up 55.9 per cent and vans up 17.2 per cent during August.

Toyota retained the top sales position in August with a 22.9 per cent market share, followed by Holden with 13.8 per cent and Ford with 11.1 per cent.

Year-to-date, Toyota leads the sales race with 165,641 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 88,969 and Ford with 72,536 vehicles.

It now looks as though the Federal Government’s luxury car tax won’t make it through the Senate unless there are some amendments made to it.

The Greens have announced that they won’t be supporting the bill because it unfairly targets vehicles that are among the world’s most fuel efficient. The Greens will support the tax if the Government amends it to only target those luxury cars that are not fuel-efficient.

… the sale of SUVs goes up.

Australian new vehicle sales softened in July, reflecting broader economic conditions and the impact of the proposed luxury car tax increase.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 83,976 cars, trucks and buses were sold in July - down 2,315 vehicles (2.7%) compared to the same month last year.

Year-to-date the car market is up 2.6 per cent on the same time last year, which was an all-time record year.

“Higher fuel prices, interest rates and the wider economic uncertainty have resulted in a slowing of people heading to showrooms,” FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

The figures also show that sales of so-called ‘luxury’ cars fell by 33 per cent in July, compared to the previous month.

“The proposed tax hike has had a devastating impact on new car sales,” Mr McKellar said.

“It is clear that the downturn has been exacerbated by the impact of this unfair tax hike, and the industry has significant concerns that orders will continue to be affected in coming months,” he said.

“If this situation continues, the government will not receive the additional revenue it had projected and there is a real risk that it will cost jobs,” Mr McKellar said.

“In these circumstances, one would have to question why the government would pursue this tax increase,” he said.

Sales in most of the passenger car and Sports Utility Vehicle segments (SUV) were down except for light cars (up 1.0%), SUV medium (up 8.1%) and SUV large (up 7.4%).

Light commercial vehicle sales held up well in July, with an increase of 897 vehicles or 6.3 per compared to the same month last year.

Toyota remained the top selling marque in July with 24.4 per cent of the market, followed by Holden with 13.3 per cent and Ford with 11.3 per cent.

Year-to-date, Toyota leads the sales race with 147,961 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 78,271 and Ford with 63,933 vehicles.

If you though that petrol prices were bad where you live just wait till you see the price of gas in Honolulu

There’s supposed to be a recession either here or just around the corner … interest rates are going up and up … petrol prices are soaring … and all those indicators would suggest that we should be seeing a slowing in car sales in Australia. However new car buyers weren’t reading the signs in June according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 542,695 new cars, trucks and buses were sold in the first six months of 2008 – up 18,319 or 3.5 per cent on the same period in 2007.

The sales total for the 2007-08 fiscal year was 1,068,301, which was an increase of almost 65,000 vehicles over the previous financial year.

“The continued growth of the motor vehicle market so far this year is an encouraging result given current economic circumstances,” said the Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Andrew McKellar.

“Business sales in particular have remained resilient in the face of interest rate rises, fuel price increases and general turbulence in world financial markets.”

Sales for the month of June were also a record at 106,541 - an increase of 1,444 or 1.4 per cent over the same month last year, and an all-time record for any month in Australian motor vehicle sales history.

Andrew McKellar said the FCAI forecasts the market will again exceed one million motor vehicle sales in the calendar year, having first passed that milestone last December with a total of 1,049,982.

“While there are reasons to be cautious about the general market outlook in the second half of the year, the industry remains confident that total 2008 sales will once again top one million units,” he said.

The single largest contributor to sales growth so far this year has been the Medium SUV segment, which has added 6,662 sales or 18.5 per cent.

Small car segment sales have grown by 5,410 sales or 4.6 per cent, while two-wheel drive Pick-up/Cab-chassis sales have grown by 4,158 sales or 12.0 per cent.

Toyota remained market leader in June, selling 25,624 vehicles, which was an all-time record for any brand in any month.

Toyota was also the top-selling marque in the first half of the year with 127,440 sales or 23.5 per cent of the market, followed by Holden with 67,123 (12.4 per cent) and Ford with 54,469 (10.0 per cent).

The most popular car year-to-date is Toyota’s Corolla with 24,415 sales, ahead of Holden Commodore with 23,323 and Toyota HiLux with 22,132.

Yes, you did read that correctly … we are talking about selling Volvo the company and not just a Volvo.

For some time now Ford has owned Volvo as part of the Premier Automotive Group that also included Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover but all it has left now is Volvo and Ford needs the cash.

So who might buy Volvo? Renault and Ford have been talking for a while but can’t agree on a price and now Ford is also talking to Dongfeng … China’s third largest car manufacturer.

Jaguar made by Tata and now Volvo made in China … what is the world coming to?