January VFACTS: New record for 2017?

VFACTS new-vehicle sales figures released today have revealed a small gain for the month of January, year on year.

The total sales figure for the month was 84,910 for the month, 0.6 per cent up on January 2016, when the sales figures jumped by 2.7 per cent from 2015. Fewer than 600 sales separate last month's sales figures from the previous January's figures.

Nevertheless, that's a sign that the new-car market in 2017 will continue to grow, and short of some calamity during the course of the year the market will post yet another record – for the third consecutive year.

"Coming off the back of another record sales year, we're pleased to see a modest gain, with private buyers active in the market and taking advantage of the offers out there from the brands," said Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber.

"It's a very good indicator for the year to come. We are confident that given unchanged economic conditions, the market will remain buoyant."

Brands posting bigger January figures, year on year, include BMW, Holden, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Toyota. A number of niche brands also enjoyed stronger sales last month.

Despite the slightly higher sales in January, passenger cars continued to slide, primarily due to fleet buyers walking away from the market class. Not unexpectedly, SUV sales were up by a significant margin, but that was almost entirely the result of increased private buyer engagement. At 34,127, SUV sales are less than 800 units behind passenger cars (34,920) for the month. Light commercial vehicle sales (13,942) were lower than for January 2016.

Ford was still selling some locally-built cars in January, despite the company's closure of its vehicle assembly plant at Campbellfied (Victoria) in October 2016. Just under 600 Falcons and Territorys were registered, although the SUV sold 477 units, with fewer than 100 units sold being Falcons.

Figures show that Holden's local product posted a respectable figure of 2524 sales – around 200 or so less than in January 2016. Toyota sold about 100 units more of the Altona-produced Camry and Aurion, taking the total to just under 700.

The Mazda3 (pictured) was the top-selling car for the month, several hundred ahead of the Toyota Corolla. The Toyota HiLux, which was Australia's most popular vehicle last year, won't begin posting big sales numbers until February, after all the fleet buyers return from holidays.