Flood cars help drive sales

... leading to a surge of new vehicle sales last year. 

While annual new car sales reached the one million mark for the fourth time in Australia, sales were down 2.6 per cent nationally or 27,137 on the previous year. However, Queensland bucked the trend to be the only state to record an increase in sales, up 2980 or 1.4 per cent. 

Official VFacts industry figures released yesterday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show New South Wales was down 1894 or 0.6 per cent, Victoria down 13,217 (-4.7 per cent), South Australia - 3684 (-5.5 per cent), Western Australia -7961 (-6.8 per cent) and Tasmania -2601 (-13.4 per cent). 

RACQ spokesman Michael Roth said not all of the estimated 3000 flood-damaged vehicles were replaced by new cars. "But it would have helped lift Queensland sales," he said. Roth warned that while most of the flood-damaged vehicles had been written off, he warned that some owners may have cleaned them up and put them on the market. 

RACQ researcher Russell Manning said buyers should check all vehicles closely, including starting the engine, running their hand under the dashboard to feel for mud and checking for signs of water entry into the engine and driveline. "But even then you don't know how badly it has been flooded and how long it was under water," he said. "I'd get an expert to look at the car." 

FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers said the national new vehicle sales results were "exceptional" given the effects of floods in Queensland and Victoria, the north Queensland cyclone, bushfires in Western Australia, the tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand from where we get 18 per cent of our imported vehicles. 

"The resilience of the Australian marketplace, combined with strong industry resolve, saw sales recover strongly in the fourth quarter, with total sales finishing just 3.9 per cent behind the FCAI's forecast of 1,050,000 for the year," he said. 

The FCAI is predicting another million-plus sales this year given the resurgence of the retail sector and strong consumer demand for new models.

TOP 10 BRANDS	2011	2010
Toyota	181,624	214,718
GM Holden	126,095	132,923
Ford	91,243	95,284
Mazda	88,333	84,777
Hyundai	87,008	80,038
Nissan	67,926	62,676
Mitsubishi,	61,108	62,496
Volkswagen	44,740	38,016
Subaru	34,011	40,025
Honda	30,107	40,375
TOP 10 MODELS	2011	2010
Mazda3	41,429	29,003
Holden Commodore	40,617	45,956
Toyota HiLux	36,124	39,896
Toyota Corolla	36,087	41,632
Holden Cruze	33,784	28,334
Hyundai i30	28,869	29,772
Nissan Navara	21,675	21,171
Toyota Camry	19,169	25,014
Ford Falcon	18,741	29,516
Mitsubishi Lancer	18,711	23,076

Source: VFacts