Media Release
4 April 2008

March New Vehicle market holds up strongly

March new vehicle sales continued the strong trend of recent years. 6364 new cars were sold during the month, a 3.1% increase on February, and although the number was 6.3% down on March last year, there were two fewer selling days in March 2008 due to the early Easter. New commercial vehicle sales were just as buoyant, with 2492 deliveries representing a slight increase on March 2007 and a huge 24.4% improvement over February.

For the first quarter of 2008, new car sales are running 3.6% ahead of the same period last year, while new commercial vehicle sales are 8.8% ahead.

“The new vehicle industry continues to post impressive numbers in a challenging market,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association. “We’re seeing some significant shifts in favour of smaller cars, but overall the sales are still happening.”

Toyota’s market lead continues, but the surprise in March was Honda’s second place in new car sales.

Corolla is stretching its lead over Commodore as the top selling individual model, with Suzuki Swift now firmly established in third place.

[March_2008_sales_tables.xls]

Sheet 1: Top fifteen distributors, full year 2007, month of March 2008, total vehicles, new cars, new commercials.

Sheet 2: Top fifteen sellers by model, full year 2007, month of March 2008, top fifteen rental cars March 2008.

[Registration_data_1975_onwards_M08.xls]

ENDS