Market reaches seven figures

Toyota and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have announced at a joint press conference that over a million new vehicles were sold in Australia last year.

2007 was also the fifth year in a row that Toyota retained market leadership.

According to industry statistician, VFACTS, 1,049,982 vehicles were sold during the year, representing a 9.1 per cent improvement on 2006. That figure is a new record, beating the previous record of 988,269, set in 2005. Sales for 2006 fell back to lower levels when petrol price increases hit consumers hard. 

The total market for December '07 was an 11.9 per cent improvement on the same month, year-on-year (YOY, December 2006).

December was only 5831 sales behind November, which VFACTS equates to a 1.4 per cent improvement, seasonally adjusted. Plainly, there was a last minute rush to buy new cars that evened out the usual festive season sales decline.

All classes of vehicle (passenger, SUV and light trucks), experienced sales growth, YOY, so it was a double whammy -- possibly even a triple whammy: relative (seasonally adjusted) sales improvement from one month to the next, improvement over the final month of last year, and all proportional to a record market anyway.

Every VFACTS segment showed signs of sales growth over the year, with the exception of the large SUV segment, light buses, vans and 2.5-tonne trucks.

The top five makes by total volume were Toyota, Holden, Ford, Mazda and Mitsubishi. Only Ford recorded fewer sales than last year, although Holden was just 169 units ahead of its 2006 performance.

Breaking down the sales by segment, Toyota's Yaris topped light cars (2352 units sold) and was 139 units ahead for the month, YOY. Market share for the month -- 23.1 per cent -- slipped behind the year-to-date (YTD) market share of 23.9 per cent with the new Mazda2 doing the dirty on Toyota by increasing its market share for the month, relative to the YTD average.

The Mazda (1201 units) was third, behind the Hyundai Getz (1499), but the Mazda also shaved some of the Hyundai's market share, since the new Mazda's market share for December was 11.8 per cent, against the YTD average of 7.4 per cent.

That figure also compares very favourably with the figure for December '06 -- the previous model Mazda2 -- 5.1 per cent. The new Mazda2 is doing very good business for Mazda and is sustaining a strong sales presence in the light car segment, although it's not going to come close to the Getz or the Yaris in the short term.

For light cars above $25,000, the three top sellers -- in fact, the only three entries recording sales in the segment for the month of December -- were Peugeot 207 (258 units), Citroen C3 (53) and Fiat Punto (38).

Top three light cars for the year: Toyota Yaris (29,663), Hyundai Getz (21,166), Suzuki Swift (13,283).

Toyota's Corolla continued its winning way in small cars, with 4111 units sold in December. Market share of 23.1 per cent for the month was ahead of the YTD average.

Following the Corolla was the Mazda3 on 2584 units sold for the month. With a market share of 14.5 per cent, the Mazda was down on market share, both YOY and YTD -- as well as selling 216 fewer cars, YOY.

Honda's Civic took the third spot with 1448 units sold for the month. Market share of 8.1 per cent was an improvement on both a YOY basis and (narrowly), YTD.

There was plenty of distance between the top three cars in the small segment, but after that, it's just dog-eat-dog. Mitsubishi's Lancer is less than a hundred units behind the Civic for the month and only 234 sales separate Lancer from Ford Focus, Holden Astra and Nissan Tiida. The small car segment is shaping up as a real pitched battle over the next twelve months.

For small cars over $40,000, the top three were Mercedes-Benz B-Class (170 units), MINI Cooper (157), BMW 1 Series (138).

Top three small cars for the year: Toyota Corolla (47,792), Mazda3 (34,394), Holden Astra (17,975).

As usual, the Toyota Camry topped the medium segment, but sales for the month (2685 units), represented a 155-unit drop from December '06 and market share (36.7 per cent) declined significantly, YOY.

Over 1500 units behind the Camry, the Mazda6 sold 1061 units, a 152-unit improvement YOY, but holding steady on the market share front.

Honda Accord Euro and Subaru Liberty each sold 605 units in December, enough to draw for third place in the segment. The Accord has lost over 300 units YOY and market share (8.3 per cent) is a dramatic change of fortunes from the figures of 14.6 for December '06 and even 11.0 YTD.

By comparison, the Liberty's figures for December were mostly good. Sales were up and market share (8.3 per cent) was an improvement YOY, but not against the YTD average of 10.1 per cent.

Of those four cars, only the Mazda and the Subaru sold more in December '07 than twelve months earlier. Even then, only the Liberty's market share had improved.

We're led to the conclusion that the Camry and the Accord Euro have possibly lost market share to the improving Volkswagen Passat and Jetta, Kia Magentis and the introduction of the Ford Mondeo, despite the Mondeo selling just 347 units for December.

In medium cars above $60,000, the top three were Mercedes-Benz C-Class (608 units sold in December), BMW 3 Series (454 units), Lexus IS250 (278).

Top three medium cars for the year: Toyota Camry (26,336), Mazda6 (12,397), Honda Accord Euro (8,274).

Some good news for Ford in large cars: the Falcon came in second to Holden's Commodore, but took 3122 sales for the month. Not so good news for Holden, the Commodore was just 531 units ahead of the Falcon, on 3653 units. That's a substantial loss of market share and sales, YOY. At 37.6 per cent for the month, the Commodore's market share really took a nose dive from the YTD average of 43.0 per cent.

However, we strongly suspect that supply may have been a problem for Commodore during December, with the Elizabeth factory cranking up production of the Pontiac G8 -- possibly at the expense of Commodore's domestic sales.

Falcon's market share for December (32.1 per cent), was a long way ahead of the YTD average of 25.5 per cent and it's possible that fence-sitters among fleet managers, have opted for Falcon over Commodore if there was likely to be a wait for the Commodore in the right specification.

Toyota Aurion (1751 units sold in December, 18.0 per cent market share) was ahead of the corresponding YOY figures as well as YTD market share.

The top three large cars above $70,000 for the month of December were the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (202 units sold), BMW 5 Series (139), Audi A6 (54).

Top selling large cars for the year: Holden Commodore (57,307), Ford Falcon (33,941), Toyota Aurion (22,036).

Holden's Caprice was the top selling upper large car, with sales of 244 units during December. Ten units down on last year, with a consequent market share setback, YOY (38.4 per cent versus 39.1), the Caprice has kept ahead of the YTD average market share figure of 31.8 per cent.

Rumours of the demise of Ford's Fairlane appear premature. It's not quite dead yet, with sales of 184 units for the month placing it in second spot and doubling the number for the Chrysler 300C (92).

Statesman placed third with 110 sales, a long way back from the 179 sales YOY and market share of 17.3 per cent is a long way behind the YOY figure of 27.5 per cent or the YTD figure of 26.1.

Fairlane's resurging market share of 29.0 per cent is the best the Ford has seen for a time and compares very well with the YOY figure (11.5) and YTD (20.8). With all that new-found market share so late in the car's life, it's clear that buyers are snapping them up while they can and that improved market share has possibly cost the Statesman.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class (29 units), Lexus LS (23) and a tie between Audi A8 and BMW 7 Series (six units apiece) were the top three selling positions for upper large cars above $100,000.

Top selling upper large cars for the year: Holden Caprice (2611 units), Holden Statesman (2143), Ford Fairlane (1703).

The Toyota Tarago was the top-selling people mover in December, with sales of 414 units -- a slight improvement in both sales and market share, YOY.

Behind the Tarago, on 236 units for the month was the Kia Carnival, which has lost a lot of market share (just 18.4 per cent for the month) and is down 147 units on the December '06 performance.

Similarly, the third-placed Honda Odyssey (229 units for the month, 17.9 per cent market share), has lost ground, YOY.

The reason that people movers have lost market share or barely moved is due to the Hyundai iMax -- a vehicle that plainly replaces the Trajet and sold 115 units last month, yet is something of an unknown quantity. Hyundai also sold 23 units of the Trajet, so it appears that the iMax is not being properly launched until Hyundai has run out its existing stock of the Trajet.

Volkswagen Multivan (32 units), Chrysler Voyager (22) and Mercedes-Benz Vito (11) were the three favourite people movers priced above $55,000.

Top selling people movers for the year: Kia Carnival (5066 units), Toyota Tarago (3920), Honda Odyssey (2626).

Taking up permanent residency in the sports car penthouse is the Volkswagen Eos, which sold 194 units last month. Next floor down is the Mitsubishi Colt on 126 units and ground floor is the domicile of the Holden Astra Twin-Top, which sold 105 units.

Despite a lowly third place, the Astra's sales and market share (11.3 per cent) are considerably better than for this time last year, when it sold just 38 units for 5.9 per cent share.

The Colt Cabrio's sales and market share (13.5 per cent) for December are outstanding, when the YTD market share is just 5.1 per cent and YTD sales for the full twelve months of 2007 were 522 units -- the December sales alone account for nearly a quarter of those. It's a mystery, beyond the logical explanation that the Colt is cheap and it is summer.

With market share during December of 20.8 per cent, the Eos is stretching its YTD market share further again, up to 14.0 per cent average.

Top three sports cars above $80,000: BMW 3 Series (239 units sold), Mercedes-Benz CLK (124), BMW Z4 (52).

Top three sports cars above $200,000 were the BMW 6 Series & Porsche 911 (17 each), Mercedes-Benz CL Class (11 units sold). BMW's 6 Series has just been revised, which may have driven up sales during the month to tie with the Porsche for the top spot.

Top three sports cars for the year: Volkswagen Eos (1436 units), Holden Astra Twin-Top (1389 units), Mazda MX-5 (1170).

Moving on to SUVs, the Toyota RAV4 headed up the compact SUV segment, taking 1279 sales for the month and picking up market share gains (16.9 per cent) YOY and YTD. The RAV, possibly supplemented by V6 sales, improvement on December '06 sales by 357 units.

Second in the segment went to the Subaru Forester with 1110 sales, but both sales and market share (14.7 per cent) were down on the December '06 results. The December '07 market share was better than the YTD average for the Forester, in its defence.

Nissan's X-Trail (929 units) took third place in the segment, but both sales and market share (12.3 per cent) are down on YOY and YTD figures.

The VFACTS results show that Nissan is now retailing the Dualis cross-over (118 units), ahead of its launch to the media in the next few weeks.

Top selling Compact SUVs for the year: Toyota RAV4 (14,507), Honda CR-V (12,642), Subaru Forester (12,554).

Once again, a compact SUV has taken top spot in SUVs from the Ford Territory, but the previous time it was the Honda CR-V, whereas in December, it was the RAV4.

Territory was the top selling car in the medium SUV segment with 1284 sales, which is ahead of the YOY result from December '06, but market share has taken a bit of a dive, since the introduction of the new Toyota Kluger.

The Kluger (947 units sold) placed third, behind the Toyota Prado (979 units). In spite of displacing the Kluger from second spot in the segment, the Prado did so with 336 fewer units sold than in December '06.

If one were to draw a conclusion from just this month, it would seem that Kluger is cannibalising sales from Prado rather than Ford's Territory, but one month's worth of sales doesn't prove a theory.

Top selling Medium SUVs for the year: Ford Territory (17,290), Toyota Prado (13,838), Holden Captiva (10,436).

It was another strong month for the Toyota LandCruiser in the large SUV segment. 1296 units sold for the month more than tripled the Patrol's score of 360 units. Even selling more cars than during December '06, the Patrol's market share was swamped by the LandCruiser's retail tsunami. The LandCruiser improved on market share (76.8 per cent) both YOY and YTD. Sales for the month were double the 694 figure for the 100 Series model in December '06.

Jeep's Commander filled out third place with 31 units sold for the month. That's reduced numbers and reduced market share (1.8 per cent), compared YOY and YTD.

Top selling Large SUVs for the year: Toyota LandCruiser (8,235), Nissan Patrol (4691), Jeep Commander (440).

In luxury SUVs, BMW X5 sold 316 units, Lexus RX sold 176 and the Volvo XC90 sold 166.

Top selling luxury SUVs for the year: BMW X5 (3,399), Lexus RX (3,127), Mercedes-Benz M-Class (2,459).

A keystone of Toyota's on-going commercial vehicle success since 1979 is the HiAce van. In December, the HiAce sold 595 units, which is better than the December '06 result, but market share for the month (36.1 per cent) pulled up short, YOY and YTD.

The Mitsubishi Express, with 288 units sold for the month, played a part in the HiAce's loss of market share, selling 145 units more than in December '06 -- more than double the number YOY.

Third-placed van was the Volkswagen Transporter, which sold 154 units. As for the HiAce, it was ahead in sales, YOY, but behind in market share (9.3 per cent versus 9.8 in December '06). Again, that's the Express's gain in share coming at the expense of the Transporter.

Top selling vans for the year: Toyota HiAce (7,672), Mitsubishi Express (3,387), Ford Transit (2,046).

Must be summer and all the surfer dudes have gone to pick up their Holden Utes. The VE model outsold the Toyota HiLux 4x2 in December. Figures were 1535 for the Holden, 1368 for the HiLux and 1027 for the Ford Falcon. Falcon's market share (17.3 per cent) is down, YOY and YTD, but the Falcon actually sold three whole cars more during December '07 than in December '06.

Same story with the HiLux. Sales figures up, YOY, but market share (23.1 per cent) down for YOY and YTD.

What has happened in the 4x2 pick-up/cab chassis segment is that the Holden has found 541 extra sales it didn't have in December '06, increasing the size of the market segment -- and reducing the market share of that segment for its competitors, even though they actually sold more cars, YOY.

Top selling 4x2 pick-ups for the year: Toyota HiLux (18,617), Ford Falcon Ute (13,758), Holden Ute (11,511).

Finally, the Toyota HiLux 4x4, with 1888 sales for December, was king of the heap in the 4x4 pick-up and cab chassis segment. Both sales and market share (31.3 per cent) were better than the respective figures in December '06 and the YTD market share.

Nissan's Navara sold 1091 units for the month, with a market share of 18.1 per cent, both figures down, YOY, from the December 2006 results. Seems like all the tradies who buy the Navara during the year sloped off to the beach before Christmas.

On the other hand, Mitsubishi's Triton, which placed third in the segment, had a good month, with 788 sales and a market share of 13.1 per cent, which is better than the previous December's result and better too than the YTD figure.

The whole segment grew, YOY, thanks to the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50, both of which made massive gains from the lowly sales of the Courier and B-Series which were on sale during December '06.

Top selling 4x4 pick-up/cab chassis models for the year: Toyota HiLux (23,392), Nissan Navara (18,245), Mitsubishi Triton (9,764).

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