The Driven

The slump in new car sales for petrol and diesel vehicles in Australia continues, with new car sales down again in October, which the exception of hybrid and electric vehicles, which have risen again.

Data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the peak body for the automotive industry in Australia, says overall new car sales were down 9.1 per cent compared to the same month last year, and year-to-date sales are down eight per cent over the same period in 2018.

Hybrid sales, meanwhile, are up, and so are EVs, albeit off a low basis, and surveys suggest that many car owners are holding on to their current petrol and diesel vehicles until an EV they like and can afford comes on to the market. See Plunging sales suggests end is night for fossil fuel cars in Australia

But the dawn of the EV era doesn’t even rate a single mention in the FCAI’s list of reasons for the slump in fossil fuel car sales, which includes a fall of 15.3 per cent in new passenger vehicles sales, an 11 per cent fall in the light commercial market (mostly utes), and a three per cent fall in the SUV market.

“While the drought and other domestic conditions are impacting the market, our key concern is the effect over-regulation of the financial sector is having on new vehicle sales,” CEO Tony Weber said in a statement.

“The FCAI and our members have been concerned about the risk averse approach to lending in Australia for some time and see improved access to finance as a key to driving economic growth in 2020.”

“Of particular interest is the fact that sales are down across all buyer types, with private sales down 5.2 per cent compared to October 2018, business sales are down 8.2 per cent and government sales are down 7.3 per cent.”

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…