ACT was the only state or territory to finish 2020 with a gain in new car sales

New car retail data released on Wednesday for 2020 revealed Australia’s national sales plunged to their lowest annual level of demand in 17 years, with the ACT being the only state or territory to post a gain over 2019.

The ACT’s new car retail sales for 2020 were 22.6 per cent up on 2019, against a national sales decline of 13.7 per cent.

Canberra’s sales boost was largely a result of last year’s intense January 20 hailstorm which swept in from the north through Belconnen, across the Acton Peninsula, into Parkes and Barton, and on through the car yards of Fyshwick, leaving pocked and peppered panels and smashed glass in its wake.

The artificial sales stimulus resulting from the storm cell’s 30-minute march across the territory continued in the ACT for some 10 months.

More than 9000 cars were damaged across the ACT and region, setting in train a rapid commercial response from insurance companies specialist fast-track hail assessment teams and equipment arrived from interstate to help cope with the enormous throughput in vehicles.

The ACT government paid out $507,000 in rebates on registration and other charges on 7606 vehicles as Canberrans rushed to have their damaged cars assessed, written off by assessors and payouts issued to fund another purchase. Demand for government services to process new vehicle registrations rose by 128 per cent…