May VFACTS: Kia the only winner

Update, June 5, 2019: Official VFACTS figures for May have been released, revealing that the market finished the month at 92,561 vehicles sold, an 8.1 per cent year on year decrease from May of 2018. Cumulative sales for the year to date are also 8.1 per cent lower, and as of the end of May the total was 436,649 for the first five months.

"The Australian market has seen the same trend throughout 2019, resulting in an
overall decrease of around eight per cent for the first five months of the year," Tony Weber, Chief Executive for the FCAI (Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries).

"We have attributed this trend to known market factors such as an economic
downturn, drought, political events, the tightening of financial lending and lack of
confidence in the market.

"Now that the Federal election has been finalised, we are optimistic that the market
will improve over the next few months,” Weber said was quoted as saying in a press release issued today.

Kia is the one and only brand in the VFACTS top 10 that has consistently sold more cars in 2019 than it did in 2018.

Such is the state of the market this year.

According to information received by carsales ahead of official VFACTS figures for May, only 'top 10' brands Kia and Ford sold more cars in May 2019 than during the same month a year earlier. In Ford's case, the May result wasn't anywhere near enough to put it ahead of the 2018 numbers on a year-to-date basis.

For each and every month of 2019, Kia has sold more cars than the corresponding month in 2018. It is the only company that has done so this year.

And while it might be cause for celebration in Kia's Sydney HQ, the result last month was only marginally better than for May 2018 – around 30 sales more for the month. The new Kia Cerato added close to 200 extra sales during May, compensating for the shrinking numbers for Stinger, Sportage and Sorento.

It's believed that VFACTS figures to be released on Wednesday will reveal the market slumped another 8000 units in May, and that's projected to hold year to date sales at a downward trend of roughly eight per cent. If so, the market is on track for the worst annual result since 2012.

Passenger cars continue to lose market share to SUVs, although even SUVs have sold in smaller numbers for the year to date than they did for the first five months of 2018. It's understood that sales last month dropped by fewer than 2000 units each for SUVs and LCVs, but roughly half the sales loss in May, year on year, was contributed by passenger cars – down around 4000 units.

Vehicles that sold significantly better during May, year on year, included the Ford Ranger, Holden Equinox, Hyundai i30, the Kia Cerato, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan X-TRAIL, Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Polo. Toyota's HiLux is expected to be named the top-selling vehicle for the month when the official VFACTS sales figures for May are released two days from now.

With the federal election now run – with a resounding result for the coalition – sales staff at dealerships around the nation will no doubt hope for an end to market uncertainty.

The Toyota HiLux was Australia's most popular new vehicle in May, selling 4206 units, followed by the Ford Ranger (3972) and Toyota RAV4 (2917).

As of the end of May, the 10 top-selling vehicles for the year to date were:
Toyota Hilux: 20,736
Ford Ranger: 16,645
Mazda3: 12,682
Toyota Corolla: 11,882
Mazda CX-5: 11,045
Hyundai i30: 11,033
Mitsubishi Triton: 10,062
Toyota RAV4: 9010
Mitsubishi ASX: 8229
Toyota Prado: 7833

For the year to date, the 10 top-selling brands were:
Toyota: 83,573
Mazda: 44,565
Mitsubishi: 35,136
Hyundai: 34,940
Ford: 26,850
Kia: 24,864
Volkswagen: 20,391
Nissan: 19,836
Holden: 19,700
Honda: 18,569