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This publication presents monthly information on sales of new motor vehicles in each state/territory in original, seasonally adjusted and trend estimated terms. The original data are sourced from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. Sales data are available for passenger vehicles, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), other vehicles and total vehicles at the state/territory and national levels.


MAY 2005 KEY POINTS

Trend

The trend estimate for sales of new motor vehicles in May 2005 was 83,160. This represents minimal change in the trend estimate for the second consecutive month. When compared with May 2004 (78,496), the trend estimate increased 5.9%.

In May 2005, increases were recorded in the trend estimate for sales of new passenger vehicles (0.3%) and other new motor vehicles (0.5%) compared with April 2005, while sales of sport utility vehicles decreased (-1.1%). Compared with May 2004, increases were recorded for sales of all vehicle types, with sports utility vehicles recording the largest increase (7.7%).

The Northern Territory (0.9%), Queensland (0.8%), South Australia (0.5%) and Western Australia (0.3%) all recorded increases in the trend estimate for sales of new motor vehicles in May 2005 compared with April 2005. The Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest decrease (-0.9%) over the same period. When compared with May 2004, all states and territories recorded increases in May 2005, with Western Australia (10.6%) and Queensland (9.1%) recording the largest increases.

Seasonally adjusted

The seasonally adjusted estimate for sales of new motor vehicles for May 2005 (82,295) recorded a decrease (-1.2%) over April 2005. When compared with May 2004, the seasonally adjusted estimate increased 4.8% in May 2005.

Decreases were recorded in the seasonally adjusted sales of new motor vehicles across all vehicle types in May 2005 compared with April 2005. This is the third consecutive month that sales of sports utility vehicles have recorded a decrease.

Most states and territories recorded increases in seasonally adjusted estimates for sales of new motor vehicles in May 2005 compared with April 2005. The Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest increase (7.3%), while decreases were recorded by Western Australia (-3.1%), New South Wales (-2.3%) and Queensland (-1.6%). All states and territories recorded increases in May 2005 compared with May 2004, with Queensland (9.6%) recording the largest increase.

	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.(a)	NT(a)	ACT(a)	Aust.
Vehicle Sales
Seasonally Adjusted	25,521	21,356	18,218	5,460	8,054	1,659	788	1,239	82,295
Trend	26,126	21,304	18,366	5,508	8,115	1,678	806	1,257	83,160
Percentage Change From Previous Month
Seasonally Adjusted	-2.3	0.3	-1.6	0.1	-3.1	2.8	0.0	7.3	-1.2
Trend	-0.5	-0.1	0.8	0.5	0.3	-0.7	0.9	-0.9	0.0
Percentage Change From Previous Year
Seasonally Adjusted	1.0	5.0	9.6	4.1	7.1	7.7	0.6	2.3	4.8
Trend	3.1	5.1	9.1	6.4	10.6	7.4	5.6	4.9	5.9

Table 1: New Motor Vehicle Sales

		Passenger vehicles (No.)	Sports utility vehicles (No.)	Other vehicles (No.)	Total vehicles (No.)	Change passenger vehicles (%)	Change sports utility vehicles (%)	Change other vehicles (%)	Change total vehicles (%)
Original
2004	March	53,728	15,005	17,313	86,046	12.2	16.6	14.4	13.4
	April	44,079	12,351	14,875	71,305	-18.0	-17.7	-14.1	-17.1
	May	46,168	15,052	17,059	78,279	4.7	21.9	14.7	9.8
	June	58,284	17,981	20,947	97,212	26.2	19.5	22.8	24.2
	July	46,724	14,442	15,869	77,035	-19.8	-19.7	-24.2	-20.8
	August	48,649	14,910	15,685	79,244	4.1	3.2	-1.2	2.9
	September	49,911	14,715	15,826	80,452	2.6	-1.3	0.9	1.5
	October	52,290	13,907	15,470	81,667	4.8	-5.5	-2.2	1.5
	November	52,888	15,257	16,190	84,335	1.1	9.7	4.7	3.3
	December	48,673	14,311	15,996	78,980	-8.0	-6.2	-1.2	-6.3
2005	January	43,075	13,826	12,664	69,565	-11.5	-3.4	-20.8	-11.9
	February	50,645	15,478	14,886	81,009	17.6	11.9	17.5	16.5
	March	53,280	17,348	15,798	86,426	5.2	12.1	6.1	6.7
	April	46,645	13,749	15,936	76,330	-12.5	-20.7	0.9	-11.7
	May	50,420	15,329	17,981	83,730	8.1	11.5	12.8	9.7
Seasonally Adjusted
2004	March	49,003	13,407	16,536	78,946	-0.0	1.4	3.5	1.0
	April	48,531	13,477	15,813	77,821	-1.0	0.5	-4.4	-1.4
	May	47,819	14,678	16,036	78,533	-1.5	8.9	1.4	0.9
	June	49,518	14,434	15,440	79,392	3.6	-1.7	-3.7	1.1
	July	47,484	14,714	16,021	78,219	-4.1	1.9	3.8	-1.5
	August	48,365	14,921	15,846	79,132	1.9	1.4	-1.1	1.2
	September	49,978	15,124	16,269	81,371	3.3	1.4	2.7	2.8
	October	51,602	15,440	16,443	83,485	3.2	2.1	1.1	2.6
	November	50,076	15,065	15,817	80,958	-3.0	-2.4	-3.8	-3.0
	December	47,903	14,391	16,114	78,408	-4.3	-4.5	1.9	-3.1
2005	January	52,319	15,924	17,064	85,307	9.2	10.7	5.9	8.8
	February	52,605	16,232	16,118	84,955	0.5	1.9	-5.5	-0.4
	March	50,255	15,839	15,570	81,664	-4.5	-2.4	-3.4	-3.9
	April	51,257	15,070	16,946	83,273	2.0	-4.9	8.8	2.0
	May	51,162	14,639	16,494	82,295	-0.2	-2.9	-2.7	-1.2
Trend
2004	March	48,588	13,679	15,953	78,220	-0.1	1.2	0.9	0.3
	April	48,501	13,876	15,989	78,366	-0.2	1.4	0.2	0.2
	May	48,397	14,143	15,956	78,496	-0.2	1.9	-0.2	0.2
	June	48,464	14,460	15,916	78,840	0.1	2.2	-0.3	0.4
	July	48,709	14,747	15,900	79,356	0.5	2.0	-0.1	0.7
	August	49,037	14,941	15,951	79,929	0.7	1.3	0.3	0.7
	September	49,452	15,058	16,072	80,582	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
	October	49,895	15,181	16,186	81,262	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.8
	November	50,313	15,357	16,247	81,917	0.8	1.2	0.4	0.8
	December	50,654	15,526	16,273	82,453	0.7	1.1	0.2	0.7
2005	January	50,894	15,623	16,284	82,801	0.5	0.6	0.1	0.4
	February	51,071	15,633	16,308	83,012	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.3
	March	51,233	15,551	16,350	83,134	0.3	-0.5	0.3	0.1
	April	51,321	15,400	16,399	83,120	0.2	-1.0	0.3	-0.0
	May	51,452	15,233	16,475	83,160	0.3	-1.1	0.5	0.0

		NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.(a)	NT(a)	ACT(a)	Aust.
		(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)	(No.)
Original
2004	March	28,118	22,137	18,611	5,561	8,086	1,343	912	1,278	86,046
	April	23,033	19,083	14,831	4,670	6,529	1,229	812	1,118	71,305
	May	25,649	20,106	16,373	5,215	7,296	1,513	918	1,209	78,279
	June	31,438	23,929	22,026	6,436	8,969	1,982	958	1,474	97,212
	July	25,031	19,410	17,141	4,949	7,228	1,449	646	1,181	77,035
	August	24,795	20,850	17,269	5,414	7,513	1,585	677	1,141	79,244
	September	25,241	20,821	17,188	5,289	8,177	1,855	739	1,142	80,452
	October	25,621	22,747	16,079	5,413	7,875	1,981	709	1,242	81,667
	November	26,619	23,052	17,117	5,450	8,157	1,944	694	1,302	84,335
	December	24,315	21,700	16,537	4,998	7,341	2,245	647	1,197	78,980
2005	January	22,467	18,015	14,530	4,466	6,931	1,478	560	1,118	69,565
	February	25,754	20,580	17,837	5,489	7,880	1,431	776	1,262	81,009
	March	27,474	21,963	19,114	5,452	8,623	1,571	888	1,341	86,426
	April	24,329	19,497	16,789	5,034	7,329	1,371	858	1,123	76,330
	May	26,204	21,882	18,221	5,534	8,066	1,639	912	1,272	83,730
Seasonally Adjusted
2004	March	25,769	20,385	16,831	5,211	7,381	1,406	775	1,188	78,946
	April	25,258	20,616	16,183	5,171	7,115	1,498	764	1,216	77,821
	May	25,268	20,333	16,627	5,247	7,523	1,541	783	1,211	78,533
	June	25,468	20,423	17,366	5,212	7,188	1,808	723	1,204	79,392
	July	25,201	19,787	17,106	5,040	7,623	1,568	688	1,206	78,219
	August	25,080	20,642	17,056	5,329	7,626	1,537	731	1,131	79,132
	September	25,543	20,965	17,246	5,423	8,396	1,792	805	1,201	81,371
	October	25,969	22,762	17,272	5,616	7,920	1,921	762	1,263	83,485
	November	25,620	21,459	16,961	5,267	8,027	1,674	710	1,240	80,958
	December	25,143	21,115	16,722	4,738	7,155	1,675	702	1,158	78,408
2005	January	27,144	22,350	17,941	5,603	8,354	1,857	739	1,319	85,307
	February	27,146	21,704	18,401	5,646	8,127	1,726	860	1,345	84,955
	March	26,184	20,989	17,475	5,382	7,725	1,769	782	1,358	81,664
	April	26,134	21,295	18,523	5,452	8,312	1,614	788	1,155	83,273
	May	25,521	21,356	18,218	5,460	8,054	1,659	788	1,239	82,295
Trend
2004	March	25,511	20,433	16,426	5,190	7,224	1,483	746	1,207	78,220
	April	25,450	20,355	16,643	5,175	7,264	1,518	759	1,202	78,366
	May	25,350	20,277	16,830	5,176	7,339	1,563	763	1,198	78,496
	June	25,292	20,315	16,988	5,208	7,470	1,610	763	1,194	78,840
	July	25,291	20,489	17,086	5,254	7,628	1,655	760	1,193	79,356
	August	25,314	20,783	17,120	5,296	7,775	1,695	754	1,192	79,929
	September	25,411	21,154	17,122	5,328	7,897	1,726	748	1,196	80,582
	October	25,600	21,507	17,129	5,354	7,968	1,749	743	1,212	81,262
	November	25,869	21,743	17,191	5,374	7,991	1,768	744	1,237	81,917
	December	26,142	21,794	17,353	5,393	7,988	1,772	749	1,262	82,453
2005	January	26,332	21,696	17,580	5,410	7,986	1,758	761	1,278	82,801
	February	26,402	21,552	17,819	5,437	8,010	1,734	775	1,283	83,012
	March	26,370	21,433	18,037	5,465	8,049	1,712	789	1,279	83,134
	April	26,258	21,320	18,215	5,482	8,088	1,690	799	1,268	83,120
	May	26,126	21,304	18,366	5,508	8,115	1,678	806	1,257	83,160
(a) Seasonally adjusted numbers of new motor vehicle sales in Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory should be used with caution. For further information, see paragraph 7 of the Explanatory Notes.