Australia’s vehicle industry is showing positive signs, with sales in July rising marginally despite continued supply constraints.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the peak body for the nation’s automotive industry, said 84,461 vehicles were sold last month, a rise of 0.4 per cent on the same month last year.
But that left demand over the first seven months of 2022 at 622,319, still down by 4.5 per cent.
Chamber chief executive Tony Weber said the relatively flat result showed the market had still not normalised since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Vehicle and component manufacturing operations remain affected by plant shutdowns caused by COVID-19. Logistics, including shipping, remain unpredictable,” Weber said.
“While small growth on the same month in 2021 is encouraging, we do not expect the supply of vehicles to Australia to stabilise in the near future,” he said.
“Once again Australia is following the global trend of demand for new vehicles exceeding supply.”
Late last month, supply issues prompted Toyota Australia to pause new orders for its popular LandCruiser 70 Series because of extended wait times.
The company said available supply was being impacted by ongoing production disruptions being experienced by the global automotive industry.
Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Vice President Sean Hanley said Toyota had made the decision amid an evolving situation.
“We are monitoring the global supply situation closely and will continue to make decisions based on the best interests of our customers and dealers,” Hanley said.
Toyota led the market last month with 19,565 vehicles ahead of Mazda on 7879, Hyundai on 6792, Kia on 6711 and Mitsubishi on 5611.
The Toyota Hi-Lux was the top-selling model with 6441 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 2934, Toyota’s RAV4 with 2437, the Mazda CX-5 with 2346 and the Hyundai Tucson with 2186.
Despite the supply issues, sales of electric cars continued to surge with 10,289 sold to the end of July compared to 2732 over the same period last year.
with news from AAP