Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Australian sales of cars and trucks will fall 13 percent this year as the global financial crisis erodes domestic demand for vehicles, according to an industry group.

Sales will drop to 880,000 vehicles from 1.01 million in 2008, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said in a statement on its Web site today. Sales fell 3.6 percent in 2008 from the previous year.

“We must be realistic about the outlook for the year ahead and acknowledge the impact that the global financial crisis is having on the broader economy,” said chamber Chief Executive Andrew McKellar.

Toyota Motor Corp. was Australia’s best-selling auto-maker in 2008 with 238,983 sales, or 23.6 percent of the market, followed by General Motors Corp.’s Holden with 130,338, today’s report said. Ford Motor Co. sold 104,715 vehicles.

To contact the reporter for this story: Jacob Greber in Sydney at jgreber@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 5, 2009 20:27 EST