New car sales have plunged by 2.9 per cent in December 2011 when compared with November 2011 according to the latest ABS figures. In total 86, 947 new vehicles were sold in December 2011 comparing with 84,403 in November 2011.
The sales of passenger vehicles decreased by 0.3 per cent while sales of other vehicles decreased by 1.9 per cent in total. Sales of sports and utility vehicles on the other hand, increased by 0.9 per cent. In seasonally adjusted terms, sales of new motor vehicles decreased in seven of the eight states and territories when comparing December 2011 with November 2011.
Northern Territory recorded the largest percentage of decrease amounting to 7.4 per cent, followed by New South Wales that recorded a fall by 4.3 per cent and Australian Capital Territory where new vehicle sales fell by 3.9 per cent. Over the same period in Tasmania sales increased by 8.7 per cent. Recent flooding in Thailand may have had an impact on new vehicle sales in Australia due to associated delays in delivery of Thai manufactured vehicles and vehicle parts.
Impacts from the flooding could continue to disrupt the supply of new motor vehicles to Australia from Thailand in coming months. The earthquake and tsunami which occurred in Japan in March 2011 had an impact on the number of new vehicle sales in Australia in mid 2011 due to a reduction in supply.