Vehicle importers have been winding back their stock orders for the best part of 12 months -- and now that the market's picking up again, there's isn't enough stock to supply that demand.
The latest VFACTS figures (for July) reveal that 75,333 vehicles were sold last month, a figure 10.3 per cent lower than the same statistic for July 2008. While the market is sending some mixed signals, mostly the message is about the buyers who failed to get their money down in June to take delivery on a new car can be waiting six weeks or more for the delivery to take place.
Even Ford Australia's local product, which is manufactured here after all, is constrained by the company's production output. Similarly, Holden cannot meet the demand for its locally-manufactured V8 models.
"Some brands are reporting that as a result of stronger sales in recent months they have supply constraints on certain models, proving again the success of the Federal Government's tax incentive," says Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Andrew McKellar.
It has to be further said, a 10 per cent drop in the market for July is not as miserable as the sort of losses we've seen in earlier months this year. And it's certainly a better result than the year-to-date percentage slump of 15.3 per cent.
"There is evidence that there has been some flow-on from the very strong June sales result, particularly from buyers accessing the business tax break on new investments," McKellar adds.
"This has been a very successful stimulus measure and small businesses remain eligible for a 50 per cent tax break until the end of the year. It's also important to remember that the tax break remains in place for general businesses at a rate of 10 per cent, which is still a valuable incentive."
Senior Manager Corporate Communications at Mercedes-Benz, David McCarthy, told the Carsales Network that constrained supply was undeniably the villain of the piece where last month's sales were concerned.
"Success sometimes doesn't always breed success," he said. "June was a fantastic result, but it's knocked us around for July. Now there's a couple of factors.
"C-Class; we didn't have enough C-Class to sell. We have a serious stock problem.
"It's purely a result of the stock situation. We could have sold another 250 [units of] C-Class -- delivered, if we had them."
An extra 250 units of C-Class in stock and sold would have yielded a July result (1429 units sold) better for Benz than the July 2008 result (1607 units).
"I'm inclined to think that August will be a lot better, because people were pushed by the market in June -- and the investment allowance," says McCarthy.
Hyundai remains the only company in the top ten to outdo its 2008 results in year-to-date rankings. Toyota continues in the position of top-selling marque, with 110,897 sales, year-to-date, but that's a long way behind the figure of 147,961 for the same period last year.
Holden's sales (YTD) are 66,418, followed by Ford on 54,239, Mazda on 44,627, Hyundai 36,161, Mitsubishi 31,229, Nissan 30,710, Honda, 25,007, Subaru 21,816 and Volkswagen 18,295.
The top ten selling vehicles for the month were: Toyota Corolla (3891), Holden Commodore (3856), Ford Falcon (2837), Mazda3 (2785), Toyota Hilux (2563), Hyundai Getz (2147), Mitsubishi Lancer (2129), Hyundai i30 (2045), Holden Cruze (1982), Toyota Camry (4 cyl) (1717).
Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi