9314.0 - Sales of New Motor Vehicles, Australia, Feb 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/03/2002  Reissue
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

MEDIA RELEASE

March 20, 2002
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
23/2002
New motor vehicle sales continue to rise but not as fast: ABS

New motor vehicle sales continued to increase for the ninth consecutive month, however there is evidence of a slowdown in the February trend figures, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The rate of growth slowed in February 2002 to 1.6% over the previous month. Growth was weaker for new passenger vehicle sales (1.2%) which continued a three month decline. In contrast, sales of other vehicles grew steadily at 2.4% during the previous three months.

Seasonally adjusted sales of new vehicles fell by 6% in February following a peak in January. Sales of new passenger vehicles were down by 7% with sales of other vehicles down by 4%. Falls were recorded in all States and Territories.

Seasonally adjusted new vehicle sales in February 2002 were 11% higher than the previous February.

Further details are contained in Sales of New Motor Vehicles, Electronic Publication (cat. no. 9314.0). This publication draws on new motor vehicle sales data provided by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Graph - New motor vehicle sales, total vehicles


Sales of New Motor Vehicles, February 2002
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.

Vehicle Sales
Seasonally Adjusted
23,861
18,592
13,038
4,582
6,577
1,347
635
1,241
69,873
Trend
24,385
19,257
12,938
4,596
6,636
1,377
667
1,221
71,077

Percentage change from previous month
Seasonally Adjusted
-8.1
-7.4
-3.3
-6.4
-0.8
-0.8
-11.9
-1.1
-6.0
Trend
1.1
1.3
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.2
1.1
0.8
1.6

Percentage change from previous year
Seasonally Adjusted
7.6
8.7
15.7
18.2
18.1
2.9
18.2
3.6
10.9
Trend
7.0
8.3
14.0
14.4
14.3
10.1
10.4
1.2
9.6