Australian & New Zealand April 2006 Car Sales Results

[JoeT]

Car Market Turns Down In April As Petrol Prices Bite

Federal Chamber Of Automotive Industries
3 May 2006
www.fcai.com.au

Record petrol prices appear to be taking a toll on the new motor vehicle market according to official figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

The Chamber’s VFACTS figures for April show that overall sales were down 10.2 per cent on the record for the month set a year ago.

Year to date the motor vehicle market is now running 10,724 vehicles or 3.4 per cent behind the same period of 2005.

"There are some one-off factors at play here, including Easter falling in April this year instead of March, which meant there were three fewer selling days," said the Chief Executive of the FCAI, Peter Sturrock.

"It should also be noted that the automotive market has actually set sales records in two out of four months this year – so the trend is far from consistent."

"Nevertheless, you could conclude that the widespread publicity generated by rising fuel prices may have discouraged some potential new vehicle buyers."

The April results clearly show a continuation of the recent trend towards smaller vehicles of all kinds.

Against the general downturn in the Passenger Vehicle Market, sales of the Light car segment were up 17.1 per cent.

Sales in the Sports Utility Market were down 13.8 per cent compared to last April, but sales of relatively economical People Movers were up 9.7 per cent.

The Light Truck sales fell by 11.2 per cent last month, although the Light Truck Market for the year to date remains slightly up (1.9 per cent) on the record set in 2005.

"The automotive industry is trying to continue the momentum generated by four successive years of record sales growth," said Peter Sturrock.

"It’s probably unreasonable to expect that the market can keep growing unabated and indeed the Chamber has forecast an annual total down slightly on last year."

The FCAI’s sales forecast for 2006 is 980,000, compared to a record of 988,269 set last year.

Toyota remained the best-selling brand in April with 14,712, followed by Holden (10,417) and Ford (8372). Mitsubishi was in seventh place with 3823.

Year to date Toyota now leads Holden 63,917 to 48,780.


VFACTS INDUSTRY SUMMARY- APRIL 2006

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries issues the following summary for the retail sales performance of the automotive industry for April 2006, based on the industry's standard retail report, VFACTS.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries advises that the forecast for 2006 is 980,000 vehicles.

The April 2006 industry volume of 68,650, is down, 7,837 vehicles or 10.2% on April 2005. April 2006 (22.) had 3 less selling days than April (25.) 2005, resulting in a decrease of 61. vehicles per day or 2.0%.
The April 2006 market is down 18,506 (-21.2%) on March (87,156 vehicles). April (22.) had 4.6 selling days less than March (26.6), resulting in a decrease of 156.1 vehicles per day or 4.8%. The April volume equates to a SAAR of .904 Million vehicle sales.

The Passenger Vehicle Market fell by 4,344 vehicle sales (-9.3%) over the same month last year, the Sports Utility Vehicle Market, fell by 1,911 vehicle sales (-13.8%), the Light Truck Market, fell by 1,532 vehicle sales (-11.2%) and the Heavy Commercial Vehicle Market fell by 50 vehicle sales (-2.1%) over April 2005.

Toyota was market leader in April, followed by Holden and Ford. Year-to-date Toyota leads Holden with a margin of 15,137 vehicle sales, or 5.0 market share points.

The year-to-date 2006 market of 303,255 vehicles is running below the same period in 2005 by 3.4% or 10,724 vehicle sales. With 1less selling day than 2005, the daily selling rate decreased by 77.7 vehicle sales per day or 2.4%. This equates to a YTD SAAR of .982 Million vehicles. The Passenger Market at 187,739 vehicles is down by 5,909 vehicles (-3.1%). This equates to a YTD SAAR of 0.602 Million vehicles. Mixed results by segment show that, whilst increases were returned by, the Light car segment up, 6,285 (21.1%); the People mover segment up, 252 (5.2%); the Small car segment up, 84 (0.1%)and the Upper Large car segment up, 2 (0.1%), the Large car segment down, 11,106 (-20.2%); the Medium car segment down, 808 (-2.8%) and the Sports car segment down, 618 (-9.8%), failed to improve on their volumes for the same period last year.
The Sports Utility Vehicle Market at 54,554 vehicles is down by 6,115 vehicles (-10.1%), in year-to-date terms. This equates to a YTD SAAR of 0.173 Million vehicles. All segments except the SUV Luxury segment which is up, 871 (18.3%), failed to improve on the same period in 2005, with the SUV Medium segment down, 3,188 (-13.9%); the SUV Large segment down, 2,330 (-32.9%) and the SUV Compact segment down, 1,468 (-5.7%).
The Light Truck Market at 51,701 vehicles is running 954 vehicles (1.9%) ahead, in year-to-date terms. This equates to a YTD SAAR of 0.174 Million vehicles. Mixed results are being returned by segment, with the Pick-up/Cab Chassis 4X4 segment up, 1,780 (9.6%); the Light bus segment up, 439 vehicles (124.0%) and the 2.5 Tonne truck segment up, 72 vehicles (15.9%), are experiencing growth, whilst the Pick-up/Cab Chassis 4X2 segment down, 1,015 vehicles (-4.2%) and the Van segment down, 322 vehicles (-4.6%), fail to improve on their 2005 volumes. The Heavy Truck Market at 9,261 vehicles is up on the same period in 2005 by, 346 vehicles or 3.9%.

MONTHLY RESULTS

Seasonality factors impacted heavily on the April result with Easter falling in April versus March last year. The Passenger Vehicle Market is down 4,344 vehicle sales or 9.3%. The PMV market volume equates to a SAAR of 0.577 Million vehicle sales. In spite of magnitude of this fall mixed results were experienced amongst the segments with improved performances shown in the Light car segment, up 1,206 vehicle sales (17.0%) and the People mover segment, up 106 vehicle sales (9.7%), whilst the Large car Segment, down 4,210 vehicle sales (-31.5%); the Medium car segment, down 572 vehicle sales (-8.8%); the Small car segment, down 538 vehicle sales (-3.2%); the Sports car segment, down 246 vehicle sales (-17.3%) and the Upper Large car segment, down 90 vehicle sales (-16.2%), failed to achieve their 2005 volumes. The Sports Utility Vehicle Market is down 1,911 vehicle sales or 13.8% versus April 2005. The SUV market volume equates to a SAAR of 0.157 million vehicle sales. All segments failed to achieve their 2005 volume levels with the SUV Medium segment, down 900 (-16.3%); the SUV Compact segment, down 585 vehicle sales (-10.9%); the SUV Large segment, down 421 vehicle sales (-25.5%) and the SUV Luxury segment down 5 vehicle sales (-0.4%). The Light Truck Market is down 1,532 vehicle sales or 11.2% versus April 2005. The LCV market volume equates to a SAAR of 0.159 million vehicle sales. All segments with the exception of the Light bus segment, up 82 vehicle sales (60.3%) failed to achieve their 2005 volume levels with the Pick-up/Cab Chassis 4x2 segment down 1,197 vehicle sales (-19.0%); the Van segment, down 299 vehicle sales (-14.9%) Pick-up/Cab Chassis 4X4 segment, down 111 vehicle sales (-2.2%) and the 2.5 Tonne truck segment, down 7 vehicle sales (-4.8%). The Heavy Truck Market is down 50 vehicle sales or 2.1%, when compared with the same month in 2005.

TOP TEN MAKES

Toyota gained the top sales position in the April monthly market with 14,712 vehicle sales, ahead of Holden with 1,417 and Ford third with 8,372. Toyota, with a market share of 21.1%, holds market leadership in year-to-date terms. Holden's March result sees it in second position with a market share of 16.1%, with Ford's market share of 12.3% placing it third. Mazda, with sales of 4,998 and with a market share of 7.1%, hold fourth position. Mitsubishi achieved 3,823 vehicle sales in April and with a share of 5.5%, is in fifth place ahead of Hyundai, on 5.3% market share.

New Zealand April 2006 Car Sales Results

Motor Industry Association New Zealand
3 May 2006
www.mia.org.nz

In only two of the last thirty years has April posted higher new car sales than March, and 2006 was no exception.

A short selling month and a very strong March saw new car sales reduce to 5109 from March’s 7114, but more significantly this figure was 7.4% down on April 2005 and was behind April 2004 as well. New commercial vehicle sales of 1504 were 21.1% down on April 2004, confirming that economic conditions are starting to affect the business sector.

It wasn’t all due to the economy though. With a late Easter and with ANZAC , April 2006 had only 17 selling days compared with 20 in the same month in 2004 – this year’s daily selling rate was actually higher at 389 instead of 371

Year to date April, new car sales are holding at 4.2% higher than the same period last year, but new commercials are trailing by 6.3%.

“It appears that the industry is starting to experience the predicted levelling out after its unbroken five year boom,” said Motor Industry Association CEO Perry Kerr. “There’s no question that trading conditions are tougher, exemplified by the collapse in used import sales,” (Used import cars and commercials were a massive 26% and 33% down respectively in April compared to April 2005).

Leading new vehicle seller continues to be Toyota, with an 18.6% share of the new vehicle market year to date. Holden and Ford are neck and neck for second, with 13.08% and 13.06% respectively.

Falcon beat Commodore by just one unit in April, but Commodore holds onto the top selling model title year to date, with Corolla second and Falcon third.


Top 8 New Zealand Brands April 2006

Toyota - 1291
Ford - 948
Holden - 815
Nissan - 470
Mazda - 445
Honda - 348
Hyundai - 274
Mitsubishi - 239

Australian & New Zealand March 2006 Car Sales Results

[RedVee8]

I wish they'd give the results by model as well.

[JoeT]

The Kiwi site isn't very useful or user friendly. The Aussie site is much better.

[Butz]

Toyota is big down under! Scary!

[tgagneguam]

Thanks again for your regular posts about sales from down under, JoeT. I know that I appreciate them.

Of course, I'm disappointed that Holden seems content with #2 on its home turf. Doesn't that bother anyone in Port Melbourne Victoria?

[cfch3399]

Yeah, what the hell?

Originally Posted by Butz

Toyota is big down under! Scary!

[EViL Wagon]

Toyota is big everywhere. The only reason GM has been able to stay ahead of them in the US is by having a riduculous number of brands and models and offering large discounts.

[GM-10]

It will be interesting to see what the Commodore will do for GM down that way.

[Bravada]

Well, Toyota is far from top in Europe

Anyway, it must've hurt Ford and Holden. What propelled such gains and Toyota? Do these sales include new GM DAT Holdens already and the Aurion?

If you add Ford and Mazda NZ sales and assume Lexus does not sell more than Volvo there, Ford is the biggest single manufacturer there!

PS. OMG, Subaru sells more cars in Australia than VW, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Mercedes, BMW and Audi! I know why, but it seems totally unreal to me

[Stormin]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Well, Toyota is far from top in Europe

Anyway, it must've hurt Ford and Holden. What propelled such gains and Toyota? Do these sales include new GM DAT Holdens already and the Aurion?

If you add Ford and Mazda NZ sales and assume Lexus does not sell more than Volvo there, Ford is the biggest single manufacturer there!

PS. OMG, Subaru sells more cars in Australia than VW, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Mercedes, BMW and Audi! I know why, but it seems totally unreal to me

Includes the new GM DAT Holdens but the Aurion isn't in production yet. Toyota is on top because of their vast range of commercial/4WD vehicles. In purely passenger cars, Holden beats them.

Australia is one of Subaru's most successful markets. Well regarded here.

[RedVee8]

Originally Posted by Stormin

Includes the new GM DAT Holdens but the Aurion isn't in production yet. Toyota is on top because of their vast range of commercial/4WD vehicles. In purely passenger cars, Holden beats them.

Australia is one of Subaru's most successful markets. Well regarded here.

Agree.
Holden desn't even compete in some areas - eg HiLux vans - Toyota sells heaps of them and Holden haven't had a competitor for a decade, not since the Shuttle shuffled from the mortal coil.....
You guys should remember that Japan used the Oz market as a testing ground to learn how to compete with the Big 3. They have been GM & Ford down here for a lonnnggg time.

[JoeT]

From Bad To Worse

Jaedene Hudson
12 May 2006
www.drive.com.au

Sales of Australian-built cars are on the skids as we buy more imports.

The big Aussie car for the wide, brown land is becoming an endangered species. The latest figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that almost four out of five Australians are choosing an imported car over a locally built one.

A decade ago Australian-made cars accounted for slightly fewer than half of new cars sold. Last year that figure had dropped to just 25 per cent. A third of all imports come from Japan and six of the top 10 selling manufacturers in the country are Japanese.

Australia remains our second-favourite country of origin but sales of locally made cars are down by almost 15,000 this year compared with last year.

The biggest losers locally are the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore. Last year the Falcon recorded its worst annual sales result in 14 years and Commodore sales hit a 12-year low.

A strong Australian dollar and a reduction in import tariffs have worked in favour of importers, who can sell cars with more equipment for the same or less money.

One of the biggest movers in the field is Thailand, which overtook Korea last year to become the third most popular country of origin for cars sold in Australia.

Ten years ago 571 cars came from Thailand. Last year that jumped to 84,831 new-car sales. Commercial vehicles, such as the Toyota Hilux and Holden Rodeo, account for 83.5 per cent. Other cars include the Thai-built Honda Civic sedan and Accord Luxury model.

Honda Australia says the free-trade agreement between Thailand and Australia allows its cars to be priced cheaper than competitors as it doesn't have to pay import taxes. "The FTA is a huge advantage for us," said Honda Australia's director, Lindsay Smalley, when the Civic was released. "So we're planning to use it."

The Accord, Civic and (from this month) Jazz now come from Thailand. Honda may not be the only one to take advantage of the agreement with passenger cars. Toyota boss John Conomos says the company is "carefully examining'' expanding production within Thailand. "We are currently looking at expanding the existing production of Hilux, that is the first thing,'' he says. "[But], we are looking at Thailand as a possibility to manufacture other products, especially with the [free trade agreement] in place.''

Conomos says it is "more likely'' the other products will be new to Australia, not existing models, and that Toyota is also considering more than just one factory in Thailand.

Sales of Korean cars peaked in 1998, at 104,434, (nearly half were the popular Hyundai Excel). Korean sales have slumped in recent years but they are still a strong force.

An FCAI spokesman, Peter Sturrock, says the large-car market will start to pick up when the new Holden Commodore, Toyota Camry and Toyota Aurion arrive in the second half of the year. "Yes, sales should definately inprove, that is what we are expecting,'' Sturrock says.

"The others are in run-out at the moment, and buyers are waiting for the new models to come out. Also Mistsubishi has repositioned and re-priced ... the 380, so that will stimulate that model. The second half of the year will be much stronger in the large-car area.''

[Holdenman]

The sneaking GIANT in all of this is Mazda who have quietly been gaining market share. They are up to 40,000 passenger cars a year and predict to be selling 70,000 cars per annum in Australia in a couple of years, which is well ahead of Hyundai and will easily make them the second biggest importer after Toyota.

But the point here is that unlike Toyota's, Mazda's are neither boring to look at or drive and they are extremely well built unlike Hyundai's and other Asian sourced brands.

[mikmak]

Its interesting to note these figures about imports stealing market share and ppl considering samller cars. It is also very familiar. The oil crisis in the early 80s/late 70s spawned gutless Starfire Four commodores and the like but really, the effect was short term and when a more economical large car was provided, everyone went for it. The fuel price hikes have been sudden and extreme but ppl will get used to it again. I'm very sure that the VE will create an instant spark in large car sales.

[Bravada]

Originally Posted by Holdenman

The sneaking GIANT in all of this is Mazda who have quietly been gaining market share. They are up to 40,000 passenger cars a year and predict to be selling 70,000 cars per annum in Australia in a couple of years, which is well ahead of Hyundai and will easily make them the second biggest importer after Toyota.

But the point here is that unlike Toyota's, Mazda's are neither boring to look at or drive and they are extremely well built unlike Hyundai's and other Asian sourced brands.

I admire Mazda's success greatly and wish it was the same in other markets. And Mazda does it with a lineup shorter than any other automaker of the Aussie Top Four!