A MOUNT Gambier motor vehicle company says the number of sales have rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels as community confidence continues to accelerate.
While COVID-19 restrictions initially triggered sales activity to plunge to just 25pc, Barry Maney Group car dealer principal Barry Stafford said government incentives and a recovery in the economy were driving demand.
His comments come as the Federal Government extends the $150,000 instant asset write-off for six months to December 31 for eligible businesses.
This stimulus measure has helped boost sales of new cars, utilities and trucks as well as farm vehicles and machinery across various industries.
“Since Easter, we have slowly built back up after the first few weeks of COVID,” Mr Stafford said.
“The first three to four weeks were just terrible, we went down to 25pc in sales and similar figures in servicing and parts.”
Mr Stafford conceded during this period there was uncertainty about the longer term impact of COVID-19.
“At this time we shifted our marketing towards the dealership, people and promoting the need for locals to support locals,” he said.
“Since Easter, it has gradually improved each week. Once we got to the beginning of May, we got back to normal sales activity. We were particularly strong in new car brands.”
Mr Stafford said the $150,000 instant asset write-off had played a significant part in underpinning these sales, particularly with commercial car transactions.
“This is what made all the difference to this period,” he said.
Commercial truck sales have also remained strong throughout the period given the transport industry continued “to tick along”.
Mr Stafford welcomed the announcement the asset write off measure would be extended.
“I think people were pretty nervous around what would happen in July/ August once this measure was taken away given the investment measure was a catalyst in getting us back to normality,” he said.
But Mr Stafford said community confidence was on the upswing given people realised the economy was moving again.
“Once the confidence came back, we started to see the retail cars moving as well,” Mr Stafford said.
He said used car activity had also returned to normal levels.
“I think in the South East we are lucky because we have strong industries here and we have good rainfall. I am very confident things will remain positive.”
Regarding the border restrictions, Mr Stafford conceded the controls had prevented some people from travelling across the border to purchase cars.
But he said there was a growing trend across the community to support regional businesses, which was being reflected across the business landscape.
Under the asset write off measure, regional businesses with an annual turnover of less than $500m will be able to take advantage of this extended timeframe.
Member for Barker Tony Pasin said the extension was great news for regional businesses, which was giving them additional time to acquire and install assets.
“Assets can be new or second hand and could include for example a truck for a delivery business or a tractor for a farming business,” Mr Pasin said.
“Local business are the lifeblood of our economy and I want to do everything I can to assist them through this difficult time.”
The instant asset write-off also helps to improve cash flow for businesses by bringing forward tax deductions for eligible expenditure.
“The threshold applies on a per asset basis, so eligible businesses can immediately write-off multiple assets provided each costs less than $150,000,” Mr Pasin said.
