Australian New Motor Vehicle Sales tumbled to a fresh 7-year low, falling -18.6% in the year to February. Passenger vehicle sales fell -3.8% from the previous month while sport utility sales dropped -1.7%. Most alarmingly, the decline was led by a -4.4% drop in the “other vehicles” subset of the data which includes utility transports, vans, and trucks. The negative implications here extend well beyond pointing to sluggish consumer spending, alluding to a sharp slowdown in business activity. This alludes to continued weakness in employment and by extension overall economic growth. Yesterday, a leading index compiled by Westpac Banking Corp predicted Australia is already in recession.
