Australia: SUV and Truck Sales Boom in May, Cars Drop

Talk about everything being down under… Whereas in the States the market turned upside down in May with cars sales booming in the expense of SUV/Pick-Up trucks, in Australia, where gas prices are significantly higher, sales of SUVs were up by 2.3% in May while passenger cars were down by 2.5%.

In particular, the medium SUV segment saw its sales rise by 16.8% compared to May 2007 and the large SUV segment, by 12%! From the beginning of the year, SUV sales in Australia are up by a staggering 13.2% compared to a 1.1% decrease the passenger car segment. Like the SUV market, the pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4 segment rose 5.7% over May last year, while the van segment rose a whopping 22.5%. -Continued

Overall, and despite higher interest rates and spiking fuel prices, sales of new vehicles in Australia remained strong with official figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showing that 88,640 cars, trucks and buses were sold in May, an increase of 43 vehicles on the same month last year.

Toyota remained the top-selling marque in Australia May holding a 23.4% of the market, followed by Holden with 12.5% and Ford with 10.9%. So far this year, Toyota leads the Australian sales race with 101,816 vehicles sold, followed by Holden with 55,155 and Ford with 44,183.