VFACTS: Holden Commodore surges

HOLDEN’S new VF Commodore shrugged off a slump in Australian business vehicle purchases last month to notch up its best sales month since September 2011, according to official VFACTS sales data released today.

While the number of vehicles sold by all manufacturers to businesses plummeted 10.5 per cent, the Commodore recorded 3315 sales in October – up 35.4 per cent on the same month last year.

The news was not so good for another local hero, the Toyota Camry, which suffered a significant 33.4 per cent fall in sales compared with the same month last year, down to 2251 units.

The Commodore and Camry sales results come at a critical time for Holden and Toyota’s manufacturing plants in Australia, which are both hanging in the balance ahead of decisions by their head office on the viability of next-generation cars to be made here.

Toyota recently cut its manufacturing workforce by about 100 at its Altona plant and slowed its production output due to falling sales and export orders.

Over at Holden, the news is better – at least in the short term – with the factory working to meet relatively strong local and export orders ahead of the plants traditional Christmas shutdown.

In October, the Australian vehicle market dipped 3.1 per cent to 92,603 vehicles in October. This fall can be sheeted home to a drop in business and government fleet purchases, which were down 10.5 and 7.8 per cent respectively.

From top: Toyota Camry, Corolla, RAV4 and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Another worrying crack in the local market was a 5.9 per cent fall in light commercial vehicle sales, which is a further indication of a slip in business confidence.

Private buyers – especially those snapping up SUVs – remained a strong force in the market, with private sales up 4.4 per cent.

Despite the slip in overall sales, the Australian market remains relatively strong – up 2.6 per cent year to date – and should comfortably achieve the million-unit sales mark by the end of the year.

Reflecting the hit to Camry volumes, market leader Toyota’s October sales eased 2.4 per cent, to 18,129 units, but still comfortably ahead of second-placed Holden on 10,528 units (+2.8 per cent).

Hyundai won the battle of the importers, scoring 8130 sales in October – up 7.3 per cent for its best October result – and pushing Mazda back to fourth place, despite a 3.0 per cent rise in sales of the Japanese company’s products, to 7967 units - also an October record for the brand.

One of the big losers was Nissan, whose sales slumped 20.7 per cent compared with the corresponding month in 2012, to 5286 vehicles.

Toyota’s Corolla small car was the top-selling vehicle in the land, with 3861 sales – up a healthy 29.7 per cent and pipping the rival Mazda3 (3613 sales, up 8.1 per cent).

Holden’s Commodore returned to the podium in third place, with its 3315 sales, dislodging Toyota’s top-selling ute, the HiLux (3172 units).

The Toyota RAV4 enjoyed a huge 68.9 per cent lift in sales, to 1598 units, to become the largest-selling SUV in October, edging out its Mazda rival, the CX5 (1540 units, up 29.4 per cent).

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was the king of the large SUVs, attaining 1378 customers to outpoint usual leaders such as the Toyota Kluger and Ford Territory.

Hyundai’s little i20 notched up 1732 registrations to win the light-car class, ahead of the Toyota Yaris (1327) and Mazda2 (1011).

Hyundai also had a segment victory in the popular small SUV class, with its newly refreshed ix35 scoring 1480 sales – well ahead of the second-placed Mitsubishi ix35.

Top 10 selling brands for October 2013

Brand	Sales	Variance %
Toyota	18,129	-2.4
Holden	10,528	+2.8
Hyundai	8130	+7.3
Mazda	7967	+3.0
Ford	7486	-10.7
Nissan	5286	-20.7
Mitsubishi	5071	-4.9
Volkswagen	4910	-11.7
Subaru	2860	-10.7
Kia	2529	-15.0

Top 10 selling models for October 2013

Model	Sales
Toyota Corolla	3861
Mazda3	3613
Holden Commodore	3315
Toyota HiLux	3172
Hyundai i30	2379
Toyota Camry	2251
Nissan Navara	1969
Volkswagen Golf	1967
Holden Cruze	1923
Mitsubishi Triton	1836