Car Sales Continue to Climb in Australia

Car sales in Australia rose 6% year on year to a record 102,900 units in May, the country’s statistics bureau reports.

Seasonally adjusted growth has been strong for the past four months. Volume last month was driven by strong demand for SUV/crossovers, the agency says. Deliveries of conventional passenger sedans were flat in May.

The sales surge comes as wages have stalled and overall household consumption in the first quarter expanded by only 0.5%. Economists note that average household savings as a proportion of income has declined from 7% a year ago to less than 5% now.