Car sales at record levelsDateMay 15, 2013 - 7:40PMRead...

Car sales at record levels
Date
May 15, 2013 - 7:40PM
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Stephen Johnson
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AAP

Car sales have fallen for the fourth straight month but consumers are continuing to buy vehicles in record numbers, with 1.13 million sold in the year to April.

CommSec chief economist Craig James says the 1.6 per cent fall in sales in the month of April was more of a consolidation following very strong results in 2012.

"Car sales basically are more consolidating near record highs," he said.

"While they have fallen for four straight months, they're still higher than a year ago and the fact is ... car affordability is the best since the 1970s."

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Four-wheel-drive vehicles are also in demand, with 318,039 sold during the year.

While the Holden Commodore failed to make the shortlist of the top 10 bestsellers in April for only the second month in the make's 35-year history, Mr James speculated that fleet buyers may have been holding off their purchase until the updated VF model was released.

"Clearly, you've got a new model which is coming up. That could be one factor.

"The vagaries of model releases can influence sales results, along with price changes, discounting."

The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures pre-date the Reserve Bank's May rate cut, which was the first since December.