By OSCAR PERRI
Territory businesses are getting back on the road with a significant increase in car sales compared to 2020.
Overall vehicle sales in the Territory have jumped by 14% compared to June last year, while rental sales are 18 times what they were, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) monthly data.
No other State or Territory saw such a steep increase, though our 959 new cars on the road pales in comparison to the tens of thousands sold in the bigger States.
The biggest increase in the Territory, as well as across the nation, is in the “commercial rental” category which is 18 times the number it was last year.
FCAI CEO Tony Weber says that this type of purchase is mainly linked to the tourism industry, and sees the rise as a sign of the industry recovering.
This time of year is always the busiest in terms of car sales, due to end of financial year incentives, but Mr Weber says the rise in sales is due to an increase in demand rather than more attractive incentives.
Nicole Walsh, Chief Operating Officer in Alice Springs for the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, says the main factor influencing these numbers is actually due to an “extreme shortage of supply into Australia due to COVID last year, which is slowly increasing.
“There’s been such a delay for new cars to get into Australia, which I understand is about parts.
“We do know that some car rental companies have been waiting for cars to come from overseas, and we know that also there’s other sectors of the NT business community that have been waiting for new vehicles as well.
“There’s been some great numbers with tourism and hospitality, but we do know that the tourism operators are still very cautious.”