SYDNEY, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Sales of new vehicles in Australia dipped slightly in July form a year earlier, though it was still the second best result for that month ever and kept the market on track for a record-braking year.
The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' VFACTS report on Wednesday showed 91,331 new vehicles were sold in July, down 1.1 percent on July last year. July this year had one less selling day and sales per day were up by 93.9 vehicles.
Sales were down 29 percent on June, which is typically a very strong month as dealers cut prices to clear stock for the end of Australia's financial year.
The running total for 2016 rose to 689,471, 2.8 percent ahead of the same period last year. Total sales for all of 2015 was a record 1.16 million units.
Sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) cooled in July after a blistering run, to be up 3.5 percent on last year. Passenger vehicles have been losing out to SUVs and slipped 8.2 percent.
Light commercial vehicles had another upbeat month with sales rising 8.5 percent and pointing to resilience in business investment.
Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T retained first place on the sales ladder with an improved market share of 19.1 percent in July.
Mazda Motor Corp 7261.T took second spot with 9.3 percent, followed by Hyundai Motor Co 005380.KS at 8.3 percent.
The Holden unit of General Motors (NYSE:GM) GM.N> trailed with 7.7 percent, while Ford F.N took 7.5 percent.
Details of the VFACTS report in original terms:
Jul
Jun m/m pct Jul/15
y/y pct
Sales
91,331 128,569 -29.0
92,308 +1.1
Sales by Type:
Jul '16/Jul '15 Volumes
Change
Pct
Passenger Vehicles
-3,387
-8.2
Sports Utility
+1,138
+3.5
Light Commercial
+1,320
+8.5
Heavy Commercial
-48
-1.8