Oz July Sales Rise Despite Tax-Change Uncertainty

Australian new-vehicle sales rose 4.1% to a July-record 90,235 units, but the industry says the result was lower than expected because of changes to the federal fringe-benefits tax.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says even after only half a month, the industry was seeing sales impacted by the FBT change. “The full impact, however, will take some time to completely work its way through the sales figures,” he says in a statement.

Under the changes, employees who receive a company car as part of their salaried package must pay the FBT on the portion of vehicle costs related to private use. Previously, a worker could use a statutory formula to arrive at a figure of 20% and not have to justify the claim.

The change makes it time-consuming and costly for the employer to track private use.

“Anyone looking at the July figures needs to put them in context and look at what the new-car market was doing before the FBT announcement,” Weber says. “Even though sales were at an all-time high for July, we had good reason to expect them to be even higher given our members’ tracking of the market in the first half of the month.”

Year-to-date deliveries were up 4.6% to 663,946 units, but the FCAI says if the FBT change is legislated, it expects growth will decline through the rest of 2013 and into 2014.

New-car sales rose 7.2% in July to 46,318 units for a 7-month total down 0.4% to 327,531. SUV deliveries climbed 6.5% to 25,568, leaving year-to-date volume up 10.3% to 196,107.

Light-commercial sales slid 7.2% in the month to 15,639 units, but remained up 10.4% to 122,039 through the first seven months.

Toyota topped the LV sales chart in July with 17,433 units, ahead of GM Holden (10,137), Mazda (8,525), Hyundai (8,009) and Ford (6,733).

The Toyota Corolla was the July sales leader with 3,945 units, ahead of the Mazda3 (3,464), Toyota Hilux (2,971), Holden Commodore (2,827) and Holden Cruze (2,467).

Toyota deliveries year-to-date reached 123,500 units, more than double those of its nearest rival. Eight of the Japanese auto maker’s vehicles – the Corolla, Camry, 86, LandCruiser 200, HiLux 4x2, HiLux 4x4, HiAce van and HiAce bus – were the best-sellers in their segments.

Tony Cramb, executive director-sales and marketing, says Toyota Australia continues monitoring the impact of the FBT change on demand.

“We have already experienced customers holding back from placing new orders until the FBT situation is clarified,” Cramb says in a statement.

GM Holden says its July deliveries rose 13.4% to 10,137 units for an 11.2% market share. Strong performances by the locally built Commodore and Cruze contributed to more than 5,600 deliveries of domestic products.

Sales of the newly launched VF Commodore jumped 18% year-on-year to 2,827 units in its first full month on the market. The Cruze saw its best month in a year with 2,467 deliveries.

Mazda sold a July-record 8,525 units, up 7.2% from like-2012, as the Mazda3, CX-5 and BT-50 all broke their monthly sales records and the Mazda6 had its best July in five years.

Mazda’s year-to-date sales of 60,812 units gave it a 9.2% share and consolidated its position as one of the country's top three automotive brands.

The Fiat-Chrysler Group saw record sales of Fiat (468 units) and Alfa Romeo (320) during July, along with a record result for the Jeep Grand Cherokee (1,196).

It was the first time Alfa Romeo has passed 300 units in a month. The Fiat brand’s previous best was 275 in September 2001. The Grand Cherokee achieved the top spot in the large-SUV segment for the first time.

Fiat-Chrysler’s year-to-date sales were up 40% to 17,166 units, putting it in 12th position overall for total sales volume.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand notched its best July result since the 1980s.

The Motor Industry Assn. says July car deliveries rose 9.0% to 6,769 units, the highest for the month since 1987, while CV sales climbed 22.2% to 2,632 for the segment’s best result since 1984.

Year-to-date car sales were up 5% to 46,502 units, while CV deliveries grew 25.5% to 17,362. This left the 7-month LV result up 10% to 63,864 units.

Toyota remained New Zealand’s market leader with July deliveries of 1,703 units comprising 1,159 cars and 544 CVs. Holden (1,088) followed, just ahead of Ford (1,051).

Toyota was New Zealand’s year-to-date sales leader with 12,495 units for a 19.6% share, ahead of Ford with 6,921 (10.8%) and Holden with 6,440 (10.1%).