Australian & New Zealand April 2007 Sales Results: Toyota Leading Strong Market

[JoeT]

Australian April 2007 Car Sales Results

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
3 May 2007
www.fcai.com.au

Australian motor vehicle sales are on course towards a new all-time sales record following another strong result in April.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 75,614 cars, trucks and buses were sold in April – up 6964 or 10.1 per cent on the same month last year.

So far this year the car market is up 9.0 per cent on the first four months of 2006 and up 5.5 per cent on the same period in the record year of 2005.

"On the present bullish sales trends it is very likely that by the end of 2007 we will reach one million annual motor vehicle sales for the first time ever," said FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock.

Mr Sturrock said sales of locally made cars in April were particularly encouraging.

The Large passenger car segment was up 15.1 per cent in April and is now up 4.5 per cent for the year to date.

The Upper Large segment, which includes Australian-made long-wheelbase models, was up 51.0 per cent in April and 43.0 per cent for the year so far.

In the Medium segment, Australian-built Toyota Camry sales were up 57.0 per cent last month and 32.1 per cent year-to-date.

"As we forecast, the new generation of Australian models launched by Holden and Toyota have gained momentum and are selling very well – which should give great heart to the local car industry," said Peter Sturrock.

"There is plenty of evidence in the sales statistics that there is still a significant market for larger vehicles in Australia."

Mr Sturrock gave as an example the four-wheel-drive Pick-up segment, sales of which were up 25.8 per cent last month and 29.0 per cent for the year so far.

Sales in the SUV Compact segment boomed in by 45.3 per cent in April on the back of new model launches.

Elsewhere, the growth of Light car sales continued last month (up 15.2 per cent) but the larger Small segment softened by 6.7 per cent.

Toyota was the top-selling brand in April with 16,383, followed by Holden (11,166) and Ford (7741).

Holding the next four places were Mazda, Honda, Mitsubishi and Nissan – all of whom achieved sales gains over the same month last year.


Top Australian Brands April 2007

Brand - Month - Year - Month % - Year %
Toyota - 16,383 - 72,613 - 21.7 - 22.0
Holden - 11,166 - 48,961 - 14.8 - 14.8
Ford - 7,741 - 34,426 - 10.2 - 10.4
Mazda - 5,703 - 25,835 - 7.5 - 7.8
Honda - 4,786 - 20,514 - 6.3 - 6.2
Mitsubishi - 4,324 - 20,145 - 5.7 - 6.1
Nissan - 4,280 - 21,123 - 5.7 - 6.4
Hyundai - 3,707 - 13,656 - 4.9 - 4.1
Subaru - 2,710 - 12,268 - 3.6 - 3.7
Volkswagen - 2,041 - 8,418 - 2.7 - 2.5


Top Australian Vehicles April 2007

Vehicle - Month
1. Holden Commodore - 4,724
2. Toyota Hilux Ute - 2,999
3. Mazda 3 - 2,438
4. Toyota Yaris - 2,325
5. Ford Falcon - 2,255
6. Toyota Corolla - 2,202
7. Toyota Camry - 1,905
8. Toyota Aurion - 1,715
9. Hyundai Getz - 1,640
10. Holden Rodeo Ute - 1,470
11. Nissan Navara Ute - 1,443
12. Ford Focus - 1,381
13. Holden Astra - 1,198
14. Honda Civic - 1,180
15. Honda Jazz - 1,157
16. Ford Falcon Ute - 1,145
17. Ford Territory - 1,104
18. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,097
19. Toyota Prado - 1,075
20. Toyota Rav4 - 1,043

Also:

Barina - 641
Viva - 527
Epica - 179
Captiva - 995



New Zealand April 2007 Car Sales Results

Motor Industry Association New Zealand
3 May 2007
www.mia.org.nz

Cars down, commercials up, but April new vehicle sales match same month last year.

New commercial vehicle sales rebounded strongly from the level achieved in April 2006, but new car sales slipped slightly in the first month of the new financial year.

Total new vehicle sales reached 6617 for the month, four units ahead of April 2006, confirming that the new vehicle market is continuing at levels close to the records set in 2005.

Year to date April, new vehicle registrations have reached 31,829, just 98 units (0.3%) behind the same period a year ago.

“The strong performance of the new vehicle market mirrors continuing confidence in the economy, despite recent grey clouds in the form of fuel prices, interest rates, and the competitiveness of the export sector,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association. “Buyers continue to vote for the impressive value and affordability that today’s new vehicles represent.”

Despite Holden taking passenger car leadership for the month of April, Toyota remains dominant year to date in passenger cars, commercials and of course total vehicles.

Holden Commodore was the top selling model in April with over double the volume of its nearest rival (Ford Falcon), and Commodore has stretched its year to date lead over Toyota Corolla to 699 units.


Top New Zealand Brands April 2007

Brand - Month
Toyota - 1143
Ford - 907
Holden - 840
Nissan - 568
Mitsubishi - 415
Mazda - 400
Honda - 355
Hyundai - 279
Suzuki - 228
Volkswagen - 156
Kia - 152
Subaru - 130
Mercedes-Benz - 108
Daihatsu - 66

Australian & New Zealand March 2007 Sales Results

[JoeT]

FCAI Tips Magic Million

Marton Pettendy
7 May 2007
www.goauto.com.au

Peak government automotive industry body forecasts the magic million sales for 2007.

The federal government’s peak motoring industry body has for the first time forecast that an unprecedented one million vehicles will be sold in Australia this year.

Australian new-vehicle sales reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2007, when a record 255,068 new vehicles changed - up 20,463 or 8.7 per cent on Q1, 2006 and more than 18,000 units ahead of the previous best first-quarter sales number of 237,000, set in 2005 - when a record total of 988,269 vehicles were sold.

But a continued resurgence in the popularity of (mostly locally-built) large and upper large car sales in April, when according to official vehicles sales statistician VFACTS some 75,614 cars, trucks and buses were sold (up 6964 or 10.1% on the same month last year), has led to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ first one-million sale prediction – up from its 970,000 forecast last month.

So far this year the market is up nine per cent on the first four months of 2006 and up 5.5 per cent on the same period in the record year of 2005. Seasonally adjusted, the April sales volume equates to an annualised total of 1.053 million vehicle sales.

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[ericmvest]

Originally Posted by JoeT

I don't have the Australian model sales results yet, but I hear that Corolla outsold the Commodore by 11 units in April.

Daihatsu NZ is down way over half it's sales from last month (66 from 182). It could be heading the way of Daihatsu Aust.

The Corolla is a smaller, cheaper car than the Commodore, therefore if the Corolla only outsold the Commodore by 11 units, the Commodore's sales revenue must have been much greater than the Corolla.

[kgratton]

According to VFACTS:

Corolla sales for April '07: 2,202,
Falcon sales for April '07: 2,255
Commodore sales for April '07: 4,724

The Falcon and Commodore sales don't include commercial vehicles.

Significantly, Mazda 3 outsold Corolla with 2,438 units.

Also interesting, Statesman and Caprice combined sold double the number of the 300C, which only sold 22 more units for the month than Fairlane and LTD combined.

[mikmak]

Sure and the Dragons are going to win a game in the next 3 rounds

I know, Broncos are equal last if not for points.

[doppleganger]

Okay, did I miss something? Where does it say anything about the Corolla outselling the Commodore? Secondly, shouldn't Commodore sales be compared to the Camry counterpart Aurion?

[kgratton]

Originally Posted by mikmak

Sure and the Dragons are going to win a game in the next 3 rounds

I know not these dragons of which you speak. Are they women folk?

Originally Posted by doppleganger

Secondly, shouldn't Commodore sales be compared to the Camry counterpart Aurion?

Yes, that's true, but not for outright sales bragging rights. Corolla is Toyota's top selling car.

[vw1610]

I hate toyota! *******s are taking over the world >

[Psionic Wibbly]

Originally Posted by JoeT

I don't have the Australian model sales results yet, but I hear that Corolla outsold the Commodore by 11 units in April.

I thinks those figures are for the Land of the Long White Cloud

[teamkiwiracing]

Originally Posted by Psionic Wibbly

I thinks those figures are for the Land of the Long White Cloud

Nope its for OZ....As mentioned previously the commodore No. where double its nearest rival the falcon.

[mikmak]

Originally Posted by kgratton

I know not these dragons of which you speak. Are they women folk?

Yep

[BBDOS CV8]

It just goes to show - despite the hype showered on abortions like the Aurion, and the flak thrown at Holden for things like the old 4-speed and alleged overweight and underpowering, people recognise a good vehicle. I see lots of Berlinas doing the rounds, which is interesting because that is really the private-buyers trim level and yet has the lower-spec motor and 4-speed or the 6.0 V8/6-speed auto as the only driveline options. Bearing in mind included content and safety plus functionality it is obviously still a winner. Other than the two minor recalls for the fuel hose and rear seatbelt buckles, and some minor issues like the Calais aircon and shift patterns with the six-speed there's been no major issues with the VE which is remarkable.

It's hard to know what's going on with the small cars - we're still seeing ripples and peaks of petrol pricing here in Oz, and all the major players have marketing/rebate schemes pushing out '06 build cars at present, which is why I think the Mazda 3 has had a sales blip. Good car, but when they run out of discounted stock I don't know that it will beat the Toyota, which itself is going to battle to sell at full price unless the new model is markedly better.

The strength of the Aussie dollar; and continuing low inflation and unemployment, coupled with an election year when Australians know there is likely to be some pork-barrelling around, is no doubt contributing to people being prepared to splurge on new cars. I think Ford's small cars which are good but a bit pricey compared to the competition have also been selling particularly well.

[Cammo6791]

Epica should be able to close the gap from Holden to Toyota a bit.

[Ssom]

Originally Posted by JoeT

Daihatsu NZ is down way over half it's sales from last month (66 from 182). It could be heading the way of Daihatsu Aust.

Yep, it was also beaten by BMW (139), Audi (109) and Peugeot (90) in the sales race. Probably because all thier target market died of old age I think...

[mikmak]

I took a mental count today of VEs to Aurion over 3 hours on the road. It was around 11:4 (22:8) which almost reflects sales. There may have been a few more aurions though as they tend to not stand out. I did get some false counts occassionally when the targets were correctly identified as Camrys :P