Western Australia reported a surprise increase in new car sales last month, boosted by strong performances by Toyota and Hyundai.
About 8,500 new cars were sold in WA in August, up 4.2 per cent on the previous corresponding period but still down 5.9 per cent in the year to date, according to the latest Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures.
Just fewer than 97,000 new cars were sold nationally, up 1.8 per cent for the month and 0.6 per cent higher in the year to date.
Toyota, which is consistently the most popular-selling manufacturer, boosted sales by about 9 per cent with 2,160 new cars sold last month, while Hyundai, which sold the second-most number of new cars last month, increased sales by 50 per cent to 853 for August.
Ford and Holden both lagged last month, with sales down 8.8 per cent and 23.2 per cent respectively, while Mitsubishi sales gained 7.3 per cent with 767 new cars sold for the month.
Aston Martin sold two new vehicles, Ferrari sold one new car, and Lamborghini sold no new cars in August while Jaguar sales were 44 per cent lower and Porsche sales gained 50 per cent compared with the same previous period.