New vehicle sales surge in September

Sales of new vehicles surged by more than 20 per cent in September, pointing to a potential bumper year for the industry in 2022.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says 83,312 new cars and trucks were purchased last month, a 20.8 per cent rise on the same month last year.

That took demand for the first nine months of 2021 to 816,140 vehicles, a rise of 26.6 per cent.

The market improvements came despite ongoing pandemic lockdowns in NSW and Victoria and continued issues with global supplies because of a shortage of microprocessors.

September’s sales were down almost eight per cent in NSW, but remarkably grew by 96 per cent in Victoria, reflecting that state’s COVID-19 issues last year.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the September result was encouraging.

“For many manufacturers, it is bittersweet with the knowledge of what could have been achieved in a normal trading environment.” Mr Weber said.

“These are challenging times, but automotive manufacturers are rising to meet them.

“Brands are working across their supply chains to deal with microprocessor issues and consumers are embracing online purchasing through click and collect delivery options.”

Mr Weber said in many respects the latest figures gave the industry a glimpse of what would be possible next year “when lockdowns will hopefully be a thing of the past”.

Toyota maintained its market leadership in September with sales of 20,216 vehicles, or 24.3 per cent of total demand, followed by Mazda on 6555 (7.9 per cent), Ford on 5759 (6.9 per cent) and Hyundai on 5457 (6.6 per cent).

The top-selling vehicle was the Ford Ranger with 4192 retailed ahead of the Toyota Hilux on 3635 and the Toyota Corolla with 3487.

Demand for electric cars surged from 161 in September last year to 466 last month, a rise of almost 190 per cent, while sales of hybrids also jumped by more than 60 per cent to 6959.