MELBOURNE (CU)_Australia’s auto market is said to be booming, particularly following a very successful month in May when 100,809 cars and trucks were retailed, bringing the demand for the first five months of 2021 to over 456,000. According to these figures issued by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the results in May showed a 68 per cent improvement from the same month last year when the economy was grappling with the effects of the first wave of COVID-19. More importantly, if we take the pandemic out of the equation, sales last month still grew by 8.9 per cent from the May performance in 2019.
Accordingly, the Pacific nation’s auto market is on track to surpass one million annual sales once again, something the industry had failed to achieve amid the pandemic last year.
According to experts, the recent figures suggest that there is a return in confidence in the national economy. “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,” FCAI chief Executive Tony Weber 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 such as the extension of the depreciation allowance for business which was announced in the Federal Budget during the month,” he added.
As always, Toyota topped the charts claiming a 21 per cent market share. The Japanese carmaker sold a total of 21,156 units in Australia last month, and occupied five of the top 10 individual models that were retailed. Mazda comfortably held on to its second place, while Kia came in third. The fourth place was claimed by American multinational automaker Ford, as Mitsubishi came in fifth.
