Halfway to a million

COMPETITIVE end-of-financial-year incentives helped push June new vehicle sales to more than 100,000.

It is the first time sales have exceeded the six-figure mark in a month, according to official VFACTS industry figures released on Tuesday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

Records tumbled across the passenger and light commercial vehicle segments as companies pushed end-of-financial-year deals.

According to VFACTS, 101,907 cars, trucks and buses were sold in June, beating the previous record monthly total of 97,212 set in June 2004. At the half-yearly mark the industry has sold 498,967 vehicles – 5.4 per cent ahead of the same period last year.

On current trends total annual sales are likely to easily surpass last year’s record of 955,229 – which would make it the car industry’s fourth annual record in a row.

The FCAI continues to forecast a 2005 total of 980,000 and chief executive Peter Sturrock said the growth is being driven by fierce competition, appealing new models and a growing demand for more economical cars.

"The small-car segment is booming this year, led by a record result (5221 units) for Toyota Corolla last month, suggesting that fuel economy has risen on the list of priorities for many buyers," said Mr Sturrock.

While the small car segment is up 16.6 per cent and light cars are up 8.5 per cent, SUVs again contributed strongly to the growth with a 9.8 per cent increase, thanks largely to Ford’s Territory. The Ford 4WD attracted 2537 customers in June to make it the best-selling SUV of any size.

Mr Sturrock also applauded Mitsubishi’s 17.1 per cent rise so far this year.

"It’s very pleasing to see that Mitsubishi has overcome its recent difficulties and returned to its traditional position of fourth on the sales charts," said Mr Sturrock.

Toyota was the top-selling brand in June with 21,545 or 21.1 per cent share of the market, ahead of Holden with 17,108 (16.8 per cent), Ford (12,951 and 12.7 per cent) and Mitsubishi with 8136 or 8.0 per cent.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota continues to lead the market with 97,976 sales, 7748 units ahead of Holden (90,228), Ford (66,744) and Mitsubishi (33,950).

Other strong performers were Mazda, which now lies a mere 12 units short of Mitsubishi on year-to-date figures and was narrowly out-sold in June by sixth-placed Nissan. Mazda’s sales are up 17.7 per cent for the year.

Seventh-placed Hyundai’s sales are up 15.6 per cent and eighth-placed Honda’s sales are up 31.4 per cent so far in 2005.

Subaru’s sales remain nine per cent higher than for the same period in 2004, while Kia continues to round out the top ten marques both year-to-date and in June.

Kia broke the 3000-unit barrier in June to set its 30th consecutive monthly sales record in Australia. The Korean brand is up 18.5 per cent on the same period in 2004, led mostly by the Carnival people-mover.

Other strong performers in June included Mercedes-Benz, which hit a 20-month sales high last month to record its best monthly result in Australia since October 2003 of 1242 vehicles.

DaimlerChrysler brand Smart sold 75 vehicles in June, growing sales by more than 100 per cent. It has now sold more than 1000 Smarts locally.

Citroen also achieved an all-time monthly sales record in June. Led by its new C4, Citroen is up 17.1 per cent so far in 2005.

Top ten makes
Manufacturer	Month	Year
Toyota	21,545	97,976
Holden	17,108	90,228
Ford	12,951	66,744
Mitsubishi	8136	33,950
Mazda	6038	33,938
Nissan	6051	29,464
Hyundai	5221	23,999
Honda	4746	23,806
Subaru	3874	19,073
Kia	3020	14,084