Holden sales challenge continues

The best Commodore sales in two years in October are unlikely to prevent Holden posting its worst overall annual sales since 1993.

Holden sold 3315 examples of the VF Commodore last month, the best number for the iconic large car since September 2011.

But in the wake of the transition from the old VE earlier this year, it still ranks 13.8 per cent behind in year-on-year results.

Holden’s other locally built model, the Cruze, is facing an uphill sales battle as the small car battle gains even more ferocity.

The Cruze, which has been locally built since 2011 and has recently emerged from a substantial model year 2014 overhaul, posted 1923 sales in October. It is lagging 16 per cent behind its 2012 figure.

The sales results of these consistent top 10 sellers are key in Holden’s struggle to beat its 2012 overall sales tally of 114,665, which was its lowest since 1993 when it sold 96,500 vehicles.

To the end of October 2013 Holden had sold 92,342 vehicles, meaning it must move 22,324 in the last two months of the year to top 2012.

“We will get there or thereabouts,” Holden Sales and Marketing Executive Director Phil Brook said. “It just depends what happens this month and next month, but the market is slowing down.”

Brook said previous results were not a target Holden set itself to beat in terms of individual models or as an overall result.

“We don’t look back that much. We look at what we need to do in terms of what’s coming through the plan, what commitments we have made and what the dealers need, etcetera. That’s what we look at.”

Brook pointed to an improving sales share for Holden as 2013 has progressed and it has introduced a series of new and updated models including the VF, the MY14 Cruze, mid-size Malibu sedan, Trax small SUV and updated Colorado.

In the first six months of 2013 Holden’s average sales share per month was 9.01 per cent, according to official VFACTS data. The average lifted to 11 per cent in the third quarter and in October it hit 11.4 per cent.

The boost in VF sales in October came about because Holden was getting the model mix right, Brook explained.

“One of the reasons we had that up-tick was it’s been hard to get Calais V, SS V and SS V Redline. We underestimated the demand for them.

“You lock your mix in but it takes a while for things like alloy wheels. They are long-lead items. You might be able to adjust from one spec to another but you don’t have enough wheels to build the cars.

“So it takes a number of months to catch up and we started to catch up a bit last month. So we had really strong Calais V and Redline deliveries and HSV started to kick in a bit too.”

Brook said Holden was happy with the VF’s sales performance, although he stopped short of predicting sales at 3000 per month and beyond as being the new normal.

“We want to sell the right number of cars and do it profitably. At the moment Commodore is going well for us. We are very happy with our Commodore strategy at the moment.”

He admitted Cruze sales were less satisfying, but made it clear the fierce small car market made it difficult to boost sales rates.

“We have a good car. There is nothing wrong with the product. It is just a very competitive market.

“If you track the average price in that category, it has been trending down since the middle of last year and that’s when we started to do it tough and a lot of it is driven by a very keen Yen.

“It is a market dominated by the Japanese but even the Europeans have become much more aggressive in that segment too.”

The slide of Holden and Commodore sales over the years has been well chronicled, as well as the issues regarding the General Motors division’s future as a local manufacturer.

Holden sold a record 94,642 Commodores in 1998 and a record 178,392 overall in 2002.

“The volume is very different and the market is very different now,” said Brook.

“Back then we didn’t have a Captiva that does 1500 units months in and month out. We didn’t have a small SUV like a Trax. We didn’t have a locally built Cruze, so it was all different things that come and go over time.”

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.