Car sales take short March upwards

March vehicle new results saw the 2016 trend estimate (98 564) increased by 0.1% when compared with February 2016.

When comparing national trend estimates for March 2016 with February 2016, sales of passenger vehicles decreased by 0.9% and SUV and Other vehicles increased by 0.2% and 1.8% respectively.

The largest upward movement across all states and territories was in the Northern Territory (2.8%) which has been trending upwards since November 2015.

The largest downward movement across all states and territories was in Tasmania (-1.0%), continuing the downward trend it has experienced since last October.

On a state by state basis March 2016 new vehicle results were mixed compared to new vehicle sales in March 2015:​

• NSW (up 33,460 vs 30,712)
• Victoria (up 26,739 vs 25 972)
• Queensland (up 19,617 vs 19,344)
• South Australia (up 6055 vs 5800)
• Western Australia (down 8736 vs 8939)
• Tasmania (down 1546 vs 1602)
• Northern Territory (down 911 vs 940) and
• ACT (up 1501 vs 1470)