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Car market on track for one million sales

Tim DorninAAP
Australia's auto market is set to sell more than one million vehicles this year, after a strong May.
Camera IconAustralia's auto market is set to sell more than one million vehicles this year, after a strong May. Credit: AP

Australia’s auto market is on track to sell more than one million vehicles this year with a strong performance in May.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says 100,809 cars and trucks were retailed last month, taking demand for the first five months of 2021 to 456,804.

The May result was a 68 per cent improvement on the same month last year when the sector was severely impacted by the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns.

But it was also an 8.9 per cent improvement on the May performance in 2019.

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FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the result showed that confidence in the national economy and pent-up demand across all sectors were strong enough to counter issues related to the pandemic.

“While we cannot be certain about the future economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation, businesses and households are showing their confidence by purchasing new vehicles,” he said.

“I expect this situation will continue to improve in the second half of this calendar year as confidence continues to grow, coupled with incentives announced in the federal budget.”

However, the June result is likely to impacted somewhat by the continued virus lockdown in Melbourne which is entering a second week.

Toyota was the market-leading company in May with sales of 21,156, ahead of Mazda on 10,554 and Kia on 7124.

Toyota also had the top-selling vehicle with demand across its Hi-Lux range reaching 4402, ahead of the Ford Ranger on 4254 and the Toyota Rav 4 on 4014.

The sports utility segment continues to be the strongest across the industry accounting for more than half of all sales last month.

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