April new car registrations up

Official VFACTS data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows new-vehicle registrations continue to perform well.

motoring.com.au will publish a more in-depth analysis of the latest figures next week, however, a snapshot of the latest official stats show the April 2013 new-vehicle total of 85,117 registrations was up 7.6 per cent on April 2012.

April 2013 year-to-date sales show 358,165 units have been registered -- 5.6 per cent up on the same period last year.

According to the FCAI, the top five selling vehicles for April were Toyota Corolla (3504 units), Toyota HiLux (2932), Mazda 3 (2842), Holden Cruze (2290) and Hyundai i30 (2150). Four of the top ten selling vehicles in April are light commercial vehicles, while five are small passenger vehicles, and two are locally produced.

Mazda3 remains the top-seller year to date. Both Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon performed poorly.

In part, the Holden's performance is a function of the brand's changeover to the new VF model year. Holden's Elizabeth production plant is only due to re-open after an extended Easter shutdown on May 6.

FCAI's statement on April VFACTS says: "All states and territories have shown positive growth in new vehicle sales in April. As a percentage of total vehicle sales the market shares across the categories appear to have settled with April 2013 sales of passenger vehicles representing approximately 50.3% of the total market, SUVs representing 28.6% and light commercial vehicles at 18.2%. The balance (2.8%) is represented by heavy commercial vehicles.

"Within the passenger vehicle sector, sales of light and small passenger vehicles still drive the volume, with total sales of around 31,000 units out of total passenger car sales in April of approximately 43,000 units."

Top selling brands for the year to date are: Toyota (64,947), Mazda (34,585), Holden (32,771), Hyundai (30,038), Nissan (28,972), Ford (27,574), Mitsubishi (21,061), Volkswagen (16,907), Honda (14,743), Subaru (12,982). Of the companies in the top ten, only Holden and Subaru have posted lower sales figures for the year to date. 

The 10 best selling cars during the month of April were: Toyota Corolla (3504), Toyota Hilux (2932), Mazda3 (2842), Holden Cruze (2290), Hyundai i30 (2150), Nissan Navara  (1953), Ford Ranger (1683), Ford Focus (1670), Holden Captiva (1620), Toyota Camry (1617). Mazda3 remains the top-selling car for the year to date, with 13,351 units sold – barely 200 units ahead of the Toyota Corolla.

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