VFACTS: SUVs anchor shaky car market
BY RON HAMMERTON | 4th Dec 2013
While SUV sales grew almost 10 per cent compared with the same month last year, passenger car sales slipped 4.7 per cent, underscoring the continuing swing away from four-door sedans and hatches.
Light commercial vehicle sales were also down 6.4 per cent after failing to get an expected post-election bump.
Despite the mixed results, the industry still amassed a respectable 96,924 sales for November, taking it past the magic million-unit mark to 1,039,471 vehicles – up 2.2 per cent on last year and in with a chance of another annual record.
Sales of small SUVs soared by 32.9 per cent, with Hyundai’s newly revised ix35 jumping 67.7 per cent and Subaru’s XV up 48.4 per cent.
Hyundai was one of the big movers among the major players in November, helped by a massive 67.4 per cent sales gain by its i30 small car.
The Korean importer’s 8530 sales for the month – up 10 per cent on last November – earned it third place in the sales rankings behind traditional leader Toyota (18,098 units, down 6.3 per cent) and Holden (10,477 units, up 1.2 per cent).
This relegated Mazda to fourth place for the month, its 8399 sales representing a fall of 3.8 per cent. However, Mazda still holds a comfortable lead in the year-to-date race for the importers’ sales crown, 94,618 vehicles to Hyundai’s 89,259, with one month to go.
Holden enjoyed some rare good news as sales of its new VF Commodore jumped 16.5 per cent to 3097 units over November last year, although this was down on October’s 3315 sales.
This edged Holden sales into positive territory last month, despite a 12.7 per cent decline in sales of its other local hero, the Cruze (1846).
Rival Ford’s locally made Falcon and Territory also stepped up, with Falcon sales rising 1.7 per cent to 1277 units, and Territory gaining 22.2 per cent, to 1584 vehicles.
While sales of Toyota’s Australian-made Camry slid 24.5 per cent to 2375 units, the result was the best for the top-selling medium car since June when Toyota has a traditional end of financial year sale.
Toyota’s Corolla was Australia’s favourite car in November with 3894 sales, despite a 7.1 per cent fall year on year.
Mazda’s evergreen Mazda3 came in second at 3666 units, even though it is set to be replaced by an all-new model in January.
Toyota’s HiLux ute swam against the stream in the LCV market to record a 3.0 per cent sales gain and 3368 sales in November.
The Australian-designed Ranger ute also starred, with 2014 sales for the month.
The top-selling SUV was Mazda’s CX-5 with 1700 sales for the month – up 3.8 per cent.
In the same medium SUV category, Toyota’s RAV4 (1549 units, up 40.7 per cent) and Subaru Forester (1521 units, up 67.7 per cent) helped to drive a 7.7 per cent increase in sales.
Subaru was one of the big winners in November, landing a record monthly sales haul of 4232 units – up 31.8 per cent on the same month in 2012 – and surpassing its previous record of 4219 set in March this year.
The big losers were Honda – down 34.2 per cent to 2636 vehicles – and Nissan, whose sales dropped 21.8 per cent to 5482.
| VFACTS November sales by brand: | ||
| Brand | Sales | Variance % |
| Toyota | 18,098 | -6.3% |
| Holden | 10,477 | +1.2% |
| Hyundai | 8530 | +10% |
| Mazda | 8399 | -3.8% |
| Ford | 7914 | -7.2% |
| Nissan | 5482 | -21.8% |
| Mitsubishi | 5148 | +2.8% |
| Volkswagen | 4977 | +13.8% |
| Subaru | 4232 | +31.8% |
| Honda | 2636 | -34.2% |
| Top-selling vehicles in November: | ||
| Vehicle | Sales | Variance % |
| Toyota Corolla | 3894 | -7.1% |
| Mazda3 | 3666 | -1.0% |
| Toyota HiLux | 3368 | +3.0% |
| Hyundai i30 | 3157 | +67.4% |
| Holden Commodore | 3097 | +16.5% |
| Toyota Camry | 2375 | -24.5% |
| Ford Ranger | 2014 | -8.0% |
| Holden Cruze | 1846 | -12.7% |
| Mitsubishi Triton | 1703 | +12.6% |
| Mazda CX-5 | 1700 | +3.8% |
