VFACTS: Hyundai jumps to number three

HYUNDAI last month leapfrogged Ford into third place in monthly motor vehicles sales as the Korean importer continued its climb up the industry ladder with its best-ever monthly market share of 8.8 per cent, official VFACTS figures show.

Propelled by major growth in sales of its popular small and lights cars, the i30 and Getz, Hyundai sales jumped a whopping 73.6 per cent, to 7208 vehicles, in February – 60 more than Ford (7148), whose sales slipped 3.4 per cent on February 2009.

For the first time in living memory, former market leader Ford slipped out of the top three, with a market share of 8.7 per cent – its lowest monthly slice of the Australian market since it started assembling T-Models in Australia 85 years ago.

Its previous lowest monthly share was 8.87 per cent in January 2009, at the height of the global economic crisis.

However, Ford still holds a slender lead over Hyundai year to date, 13,878 to 13,416.

The total Australian market for February surged a solid 17.1 per cent on the same month last year, to 82,219 vehicles – 11,978 more than in February 2009.

Market leader Toyota proved that the company’s US quality problems had no rub off here when it gained volume – up 17.8 per cent to 16,814 units. Its share also increased, up 0.13 percentage points to 20.5 per cent, as Toyota retained its number one crown, well ahead of second-placed Holden on 13.6 per cent share from 11,213 vehicles.

From top: Holden Commodore, centre: Toyota Hilux, Below: Toyota Corolla.

Holden, however, outpaced the market, selling 24 per cent more vehicles year on year, led by its locally-made Commodore large car – again Australia’s top-selling car for the month with 3914 sales – and imported Captiva SUV – Australia’s top-selling SUV on 1315 units.

The Mazda3 (3390 sales), Toyota’s HiLux (3271) and Corolla (3042) were the next best.

Hyundai’s i30 small car soared to 2926 units – a 137 per cent improvement over the same month last year – while its smaller stablemate, the ageing Getz, jumped 21.7 per cent to top the light-car segment.

With potentially mass-selling models such as the new i45 Sonata replacement and i20 light car on the launch pad for 2010, Hyundai is proving to be an ominous presence for rivals.

It wasn’t all bad news for Ford, as its locally-made vehicles, the Falcon and Territory, both gained volume compared with February 2009 – up 5.4 per cent to 2514 units and up 13.3 per cent to 867 vehicles respectively.

Ford’s European imports, the Fiesta and Mondeo, also surged, up 34.2 and 48.1 per cent respectively, while the Escape SUV also gained ground, up 93.4 per cent from a low base.

The bad news was that the Falcon Ute took a hit (down 27.9 per cent to 762 units), as did the ageing Focus small car, down 44.1 per cent to just 477 units.

Mazda, whose sales gained 9.8 per cent for the month, took fifth place in February sales with 7003 units – just 145 behind Ford - and an 8.5 per cent share.

Private buyers continued to return to the market, up 9.3 per cent on the same month last year.

FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar described the result as “very strong”, adding that it provided further evidence of renewed growth in vehicle sales.

“It is encouraging to see private buyers edging back into the market following the financial concerns of the past year,” he said.

Business sales remained strong (22.7 per cent increase) and there was a sharp rise in the number of vehicles sold to rental companies (175 per cent increase).

“Deliveries of vehicles purchased under the business tax break are gradually phasing down and we need to examine how the market will look without the impact of economic stimulus,” Mr McKellar said.

“Looking ahead, sustaining the confidence of private buyers is the key challenge for the economy,” he said.

“For that reason we continue to be cautious about the impact of interest rate increases,” Mr McKellar said.

Top 10 makes, February 2010:
Rank	Make	Sales	% Share
1	Toyota	16,814	20.5%
2	Holden	11,213	13.6%
3	Hyundai	7208	8.8%
4	Ford	7148	8.7%
5	Mazda	7003	8.5%
6	Mitsubishi	5026	6.1%
7	Nissan	4596	5.6%
8	Subaru	3278	4.0%
9	Honda	3102	3.8%
10	Volkswagen	2998	3.6%