Photo by Engin_Akyurt on Pixabay
Sales figures for new vehicles in Australia have declined on their respective month in the previous year for the eighteenth month in a row, the latest research confirms.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ (FCAI) new vehicles sales figures for September show a 6.9% decline of new car sales in September 2019 compared to September 2018.
This is a decline of 6,530 vehicles.
Year-to-date (January 2019 – September), a total of 811,464 new vehicles were sold, a decrease of 69,541 vehicles, or 7.9% over the same period last year.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said these slower sales are in line with the broader economic environment in Australia.
“Of particular concern to the industry is the restrictive regulatory lending conditions currently facing consumers,” Mr Weber said.
“The question has to be asked – are these results telling us we have made it too difficult for people to finance basic purchases in today’s Australia?”

Responsible lending and access to credit – such as car loans – have been a hot topic lately, with the Treasurer himself pushing particularly hard against overly stringent lending standards.
“It’s in everyone’s interest that the aspirations of hard-working families are not collateral damage in this regulatory process,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said at a property summit last week.
“If responsible lending laws are applied too stringently, they will also negatively impact consumer behaviour.
“Clearly, the risk that the provision of credit may cause substantial hardship to some should not result in a significantly reduced ability to access credit by the vast majority of borrowers.”
Looking for a low-rate car loan? The table below displays some of the lowest fixed car loan rates on the market for new cars.
Company | Advertised rate | Comparison rate* | Monthly repayments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Car Loan (New) | 4.89% | 5.44% | $376 | More details |
Car Loan (Up to 2 years old) | 5.45% | 5.80% | $382 | More details |
New Car Loan | 5.49% | 5.87% | $382 | More details |
Discounted Personal Loan (Car Loan) | 5.64% | 5.99% | $388 | More details |
New Car Loan Fixed | 6.45% | 6.66% | $391 | More details |
Secured Car Loan Fixed | 6.99% (up to 9.49%) | 8.05% (up to 10.53%) | $396 (up to $420) | More details |
Ad rate | Comp rate* | Repayments | |
---|---|---|---|
Car Loan (New) | |||
4.89% | 5.44% | $376 | |
More details | |||
Car Loan (Up to 2 years old) | |||
5.49% | 5.84% | $382 | |
More details | |||
New Car Loan | |||
5.49% | 5.87% | $382 | |
More details | |||
Discounted Personal Loan (Car Loan) | |||
5.64% | 5.99% | $388 | |
More details | |||
New Car Loan Fixed | |||
6.45% | 6.66% | $391 | |
More details | |||
Secured Car Loan | |||
6.99% (up to 9.49%) | 8.05% (up to 10.53%) | $396 (up to $420) | |
More details |
*Data accurate as at 2 December 2019. Rates based on a loan of $20,000 for a five-year loan term. Products sorted by advertised rate, then by company name (A-Z). Repayments are calculated based on advertised rates. View disclaimer.
September car sales – by the numbers
Toyota was the market leader in September, followed by Mitsubishi and Mazda.
These brands made 15,166, 8,990 and 8,168 sales in September respectively.
Year-to-date, Toyota remains the market leader with 154,515 sales so far in 2019.
Rank | Car brand | Total sales YTD | Total sales September 2019 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Toyota | 154,515 | 15,166 |
2 | Mazda | 79,057 | 8,168 |
3 | Hyundai | 66,489 | 7,245 |
4 | Mitsubishi | 64,506 | 8,990 |
5 | Ford | 48,604 | 4,783 |
6 | Kia | 46,360 | 5,128 |
7 | Nissan | 38,343 | 4,651 |
8 | Volkswagen | 37,709 | 3,816 |
9 | Holden | 34,215 | 2,863 |
10 | Honda | 34,210 | 3,404 |
In terms of individual cars, the Toyota Hilux was (as usual) the most popular, with 3,364 individual sales in September.
This is a 22.5% fall from September last year however.
The third most popular car, the Mitsubishi Triton, led Mitsubishi’s charge up the rankings with a 61.6% increase in sales to 3,001.
Rank | Vehicle | Sep-19 | Sep-18 | % diff |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Toyota Hilux | 3,364 | 4,338 | -22.5% |
2 | Ford Ranger | 3,116 | 3,228 | -3.5% |
3 | Mitsubishi Triton | 3,001 | 1,857 | 61.6% |
4 | Hyundai i30 | 2,447 | 2,508 | -2.4% |
5 | Mitsubishi ASX | 2,419 | 2,138 | 13.1% |
6 | Mazda CX-5 | 2,335 | 1,506 | 56.4% |
7 | Toyota Corolla | 2,219 | 2,917 | -23.9% |
8 | Kia Cerato | 2,022 | 1,574 | 28.5% |
9 | Nissan XTrail | 1,769 | 1,908 | -7.3% |
10 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 1,731 | 1,404 | 23.3% |
Disclaimers
The entire market was not considered in selecting the above products. Rather, a cut-down portion of the market has been considered which includes retail products from at least the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned institutions and Australia’s larger non-banks:
- The big four banks are: ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac
- The top 10 customer-owned Institutions are the ten largest mutual banks, credit unions and building societies in Australia, ranked by assets under management in November 2020. They are (in descending order): Credit Union Australia, Newcastle Permanent, Heritage Bank, Peoples’ Choice Credit Union, Teachers Mutual Bank, Greater Bank, IMB Bank, Beyond Bank, Bank Australia and P&N Bank.
- The larger non-bank lenders are those who (in 2020) has more than $9 billion in Australian funded loans and advances. These groups are: Resimac, Pepper, Liberty and Firstmac.
- If you click on a product link and you are referred to a Product or Service Provider’s web page, it is highly likely that a commercial relationship exists between that Product or Service Provider and Savings.com.au
Some providers' products may not be available in all states. To be considered, the product and rate must be clearly published on the product provider's web site.
In the interests of full disclosure, Savings.com.au, Performance Drive and Loans.com.au are part of the Firstmac Group. To read about how Savings.com.au manages potential conflicts of interest, along with how we get paid, please click through onto the web site links.
*Comparison rate is based on a loan of $150,000 over a term of 25 years. Please note the comparison rate only applies to the examples given. Different loan amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees and costs savings, such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.
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