New vehicle sales in Australia slipped for a second month in August, though the annual pace of decline almost halved, industry data showed on Thursday.

The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said vehicle sales were down 6.9 percent in original terms, compared to July. Sales were 5.2 percent below August last year, an improvement from July when they were down 10.2 percent on the year.

Seasonally adjusted, sales fell 1.6 percent in August from July.

The market is still correcting after a huge 36 percent jump in sales in June, which was driven by a government tax break for businesses buying vehicles and by end of financial year sales.

Sales for the year to August were running 14.2 percent behind the same period in 2008.

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) again took top sales position in August, with a share of 21.8 percent. The Holden unit of General Motors Corp (GM.N) took second spot with 13.0 percent. Ford Motor Co. (F.N) took 10.4 percent, while Mazda (7261.T) had 8.0 percent.

Details of the VFACTS report in original terms:

Aug July m/m pct Aug 08 y/y pct Sales 73,287 75,333 -6.9 77,323 -5.2

Sales by Type: Aug '09/Aug '08 Volumes

Change Pct Change

Passenger Vehicles -1,183 -2.6

Sports Utility -273 -1.9

Light Truck -1,919 -13.7

Heavy Commercial -661 -22.6 (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Jonathan Standing)

Australia Ford Motor Company General motors Toyota