New Car Sales Hit Record High - Australia Car News

Sales of new motor vehicles jumped by the most in five months in August to reach their highest on record, a sign consumers have the confidence to splash out on big ticket items.

Government figures out this morning show new vehicle sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 3.6 per cent in August to 93,379, following a revised 1.1 per cent decline in July. Sales were up 6.4 per cent compared with August last year.

Sales of sports utility vehicles extended their meteoric run with an increase of 4.3 per cent to a fresh all-time high of 26,452. Sales of passenger vehicles rose 4.7 per cent, while sales of other vehicles, including trucks, edged up 0.4 per cent after a very strong result in July.

The robust vehicle numbers contrast with softness seen in retail sales for July and suggest consumer spending is not as weak as some fear.

Industry data out earlier in the month showed Toyota retained first place in the sales ladder with 19.2 per cent of the market in August.

Holden held second spot with 12.0 per cent. Hyundai and Ford tied with 8.3 per cent, while Mazda took 8.2 per cent.

Australian Capital Cities: Where's Hot, Where's Not

DARWIN was Australia's best-performing capital city for property values during the past quarter - up 5.2 per cent - and showing year-on-year growth of 4.2 per cent, according to the latest figures from RP Data.

The RP Data-Rismark August Hedonic index shows Adelaide is the weakest performing capital city, with the change in dwelling values sliding 2.2 per cent during the past three months.

The monthly figures were more optimistic though for Adelaide, showing 1.4 per cent growth for August.

Sydney and Melbourne both recorded only 0.1 per cent growth for the month, but are performing better for the quarter, at 2.4 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively.

RP Data research director Tim Lawless, said the figures showed a flat winter season that could be the foundation of a strengthening Spring.

Combined with the lowest transaction levels since the late 1990s, prices could also soon be expected to drift upwards after years in the doldrums.

"Spring is going to be better than last year,” Mr Lawless said.

"This is the first time that we have seen total listings across the capital cities the same as they were last year.”

Mr Lawless said lower listing levels were good news for vendors because it meant there was not as much choice in the market which could improve prices.

"In November last year, the listings were 30 per cent higher than they are now,” Mr Lawless said.
"They are currently only 0.5 per cent higher than last year, which means that we have a good benchmark level."

From a supply perspective, it’s a sign that there aren’t as many homes on the market at the moment and that means homes are selling a bit faster and vendors discounting a little less but transaction numbers stabilising.”

Mr Lawless said transaction volumes were at their lowest since 1998 - and were currently lower than during the Global Financial Crisis.

"At the moment based on June data, transaction volumes are 7 per cent lower than the same time last year,” Mr Lawless said.

"We’re averaging 30,000 sales each month and that’s fairly steady across 2012.”

But the lack of stock was being treated calmly by potential buyers who are showing patience about finding exactly the right home.

"A lot more people are attending local houses and showing interest in the market place but there is still not a level of urgency that will push buyers into making a purchase decision rapidly,” Mr Lawless said.

“Purchase decisions won’t be rushed, buyers are playing vendors off against each other and are negotiating pretty hard.”

Figures from the data showed:

- Hobart prices grew 3.9 per cent for the year to date
- Sydney prices grew 1.9 per cent for the year to date
- Darwin prices grew 8.4 per cent for the year to date
- Brisbane prices grew 0.6 per cent for the quarter
- Perth prices lifted just 0.2 per cent for the quarter

No Grounds To Give Up Coffee - Coffee Price Comparison Australia

HOBART coffee lovers are paying up to $1 more per cup of takeaway cappuccino than those in Sydney.

Local prices are also on par with Perth, which has taken the mantle of the most expensive major city interstate, new statistics reveal.

But local barristas say their customers base their decisions on their tastebuds not their wallets.

A recent survey by Gilkatho, a coffee machine retail company, has found the average price for a takeaway cappuccino in Australia's major capital cities varies from $3.36 in Melbourne to $3.87 in Perth.

A Mercury survey of Hobart coffee shops yesterday showed prices were all generally above the $3.47 national average.

Prices for a regular takeaway cappuccino in Hobart varied from $3.50 to $4.35.

Doctor Coffee owner Craig Gibson said yesterday there was a number of reasons why coffee can be more expensive in Tasmania.

Transport costs were a big reason, he said.

"A lot of our coffee comes from Melbourne, where a lot of the good speciality roasters are based," he said.

Mr Gibson said most of his customers were not shopping on price.

"Ninety nine per cent of our customers come here because of the quality," he said.

Di Bella coffee managing director Phillip Di Bella said yesterday it costs about $1 in ingredients to make a cup of coffee and $2 including labour.

"As labour is the main cost in making a coffee and pay rates vary from state to state, this can change the cost to make a coffee considerably," he said.

"Rents also vary depending on the location of the cafe, city and space."

Mesothelioma Australia: Chinese Cars Made With Asbestos Expected To Be Recalled

China is poised to surpass other leading, industrialized nations in car manufacturing with inexpensive cars. Instead of taking decades to adapt and revolutionize car manufacturing, the Chinese industry has just taken a few short years to catch up with the rest of the world. However, this incredible transformation has come at a cost.

In recent months, many Chinese car brands have come under fire for poor safety and quality in the rush to become a viable car alternative on the international market.

Nearly 25,000 inexpensive Chinese cars from two car manufacturing companies Great Wall and Chery are expected to be recalled in Australia after it was discovered that asbestos was used in gaskets. Many industrialized nations like Australia have banned asbestos in mining and manufacturing as well as have banned the importation and exportation of asbestos.

After the discovery of the asbestos gaskets, production at both companies stopped. Great Wall and Chery are currently researching potential replacement materials for the toxic gaskets, but initially said that car production did not include asbestos.

As of Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is debating whether to issue a recall of the 25,000 cars imported into the country. A final recall decision is expected later this week. Ateco Automotive, the company in charge of importation of both Chinese brands, initially ruled that the asbestos gaskets pose a “negligible” health threat for drivers and passengers.

Up until it was banned in most countries, asbestos was a common material used in car manufacturing. Besides gaskets, asbestos was used in other automotive parts like  brakes, brake components, clutch linings, disc and drum brakes, and transmission plates.
A naturally occurring set of minerals, asbestos was widely used in a variety of products up until the late 1990s and early 2000s in many industrialized nations. After it was discovered that asbestos is a carcinogen akin to cigarette smoke, most countries banned the material.

Exposure to asbestos is the leading cause of a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. Affecting the delicate protective lining of the lungs, heart or abdominal cavity, mesothelioma can take upwards of several decades to present symptoms. Once in play, mesothelioma is a fast moving disease without a cure.

Online Orders Surge As Retailers Lag - Online Shopping Australia

The number of online orders to Australian businesses increased by almost a third during the 2010-11 financial year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics research released on Tuesday showed that local businesses received online orders worth $189 billion in the 12 months to June 30, 2011, an increase of $46 billion, or 32 per cent, on the previous corresponding period.

However, the data also showed that only 28 per cent of business said they had received orders via the internet, a mere 13 per cent increase on the previous year.

In contrast, more than half of businesses in Australia, 51 per cent, reported placing orders for goods and services on the internet in last financial year, up nine per cent in the previous year, ABS data showed.

In another troubling sign, just below 40 per cent of business reported ‘‘some form of innovative activity’’ in 2010-11, the ABS said, with 66 per cent of large businesses reporting activities to boost efficiency and lower costs. Only 30 per cent of companies with four employees or less reported the same, the ABS said.

The gap between businesses receiving orders online and those placing them highlighted the demand for changes by local industries and the constraints that many businesses in Australia work under. The slow pace of innovation in Australia has held back the nation’s overall productivity, an area of concern for the central bank and economists.

RBA forecasts of economic growth routinely factor in improvements in productivity to achieve the expansion, yet productivity in Australia has lagged in recent years.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens recently urged politicians to follow the suggestions of the productivity commission in order to boost the the efficiencies and lower the cost in the economy.

Australia’s economy, while expanding by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter, has been riven by disparities in performance between mining and non-mining states and industries.

Macquarie senior economist Brian Radican said that internet usage in Australia is lower than in the comparable economies of the US or UK.

Yet, the distances in Australia suggest that the internet usage for commerce could have a larger benefit locally.

“A deeper embrace of its use by Australian business could arguably have a bigger benefit here than it would in other regions,” he said.

Across all sectors 40 to 43 per cent of businesses had a website.
But while 97 per cent of large business had a website, only a third of small businesses reported having one.

“If firms can drive some of the costs out of businesses, they can produce more for less,” he said.
However, Mr Radican cautioned that Australia’s weaker productivity was also driven by industrial relations challenges and other factors.

Australia Auto Exports at 13-Year Low as GM, Toyota Cut Jobs

The value of Australia’s automobile exports plunged to the lowest level since 1998 last year as the strength of the local currency reduced overseas demand, leading to job cuts at the local units of General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

Passenger vehicle shipments fell 26 percent from a year earlier to A$1.35 billion ($1.45 billion), the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today in its December trade report. Car exports have slumped 63.7 percent since their peak of A$3.6 billion in 2008, when they were the largest export by the country’s manufacturing industry.

The decline highlights the so-called two-speed nature of Australia’s economy as industries outside the booming mining sector suffer from a more than 60 percent rise of the local currency against the U.S. dollar in the past three years. Toyota said last month it’s cutting more than a 10th of its assembly plant workforce in Australia, while GM Holden said today its reducing the number of contractors it employs.

“Our capacity to sustain large levels of export sales has largely evaporated,” said Ian Chalmers, chief executive officer of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, a car industry lobbying group. “We’re competing in an internationally difficult space while dealing with a very high Australian dollar at the same time.”

Toyota Cuts

Australian manufacturing, accounting for about 10 percent of gross domestic product, has contracted even as booming demand for the nation’s commodities helped the economy avoid a recession after the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Toyota Australia, the country’s largest car exporter, cited the strong dollar when it said Jan. 23 that 350 people face compulsory redundancy at its main plant in Altona, a suburb of the country’s second-largest city Melbourne.

The division’s production has fallen 36 percent since 2007, it said in an e-mailed statement last month. The unit shipped 83,000 cars worth A$1.5 billion in 2010, the majority to the Middle East, the largest importer of Australian-made cars, according to Toyota’s website.

Holden, Australia’s largest producer of cars for the domestic market, blamed the high Australian dollar for the job cuts at its assembly plant in the South Australian city of Adelaide.

Growth Under Threat

“At the current exchange rate we won’t be able to realize further growth in our export programs,” GM Holden Chairman Mike Devereux said in a statement. About 100 jobs will go and the company “will not be able to do business” in Australia without government support, Devereux said in an interview today with Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today the government is determined to “keep car manufacturing here” and acknowledged the problems posed by the high Australian dollar. The so-called Aussie is likely to stay “relatively high for years to come,” Gillard said yesterday and urged businesses to adapt to it.

Driven by demand for the country’s mining and petroleum exports and top-rated government debt, the Australian dollar has been the best-performing group of 10 currency against the U.S. dollar during the past two years, rising 22.1 percent over the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While that strength helps contain inflation by making imports cheaper, it hurts exporters by making their products more expensive relative to overseas competitors. BlueScope Steel Ltd., the country’s largest steel producer, in August shuttered its export division, and Australian wine exports fell to a 10- year low in 2011.

The Australian Industry Group’s performance of manufacturing index has shown a contraction in 13 months over the past two years. A comparable survey in the U.K. has seen contractions in five months during the period, while U.S. manufacturing has grown in every month since July 2009.

Australia Auto Exports at 13-Year Low as GM, Toyota Cut Jobs