While new car registrations of 4,585 was the highest monthly increase for the year so far (30%) in comparison to 2009, one should not lose sight of the fact that the industry was reeling from the worse sales in 35 years in April 2009.
April 2010 sales were 807 (-14.9%) short of the March figures, a number the new vehicle industry is apparently very happy with.
"April is traditionally a quiet month as sales slow with the Easter break and with school holidays" said Perry Kerr, Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Trade Association. "Dealers I have spoken with are reporting good levels of enquiry, but they are commenting they do not have enough good quality near new used stock, which is putting pressure on prices".
Mr Kerr added there was no easy solution for this situation as new vehicle sales throughout 2009 were at an historical low.
For those looking at a new vehicle upgrade it would still appear to be a buyer's market, especially for those with good late model low mileage vehicles to trade.
Commercial registrations (1,103) were 8.4% lower than April 2009.
Highlights:
- The top three selling models for the month and year to date remain the same; Toyota Corolla in first place followed by the Suzuki Swift and the Holden Commodore
- Hyundai managed to push Mazda down into fifth place selling just three more vehicles to claim fourth place for the month
- Year to date Toyota and Holden are the only distributors to have a market share in double figures (16.77% and 11.07% respectively)
- Kia and Mitsubishi car sales for the month were their lowest for the calendar year (139 and 199 respectively)
- The most popular light commercial model for April was the Toyota Hilux followed by the Nissan Navara and the Ford Ranger.
More information
April 2010 new car sales stats (203 kb PDF)