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NEWS
New car sales boom to continue in 2013
Another near-record year for new-car sales forecast as 2012 industry hits all-time highExperts agree that new-vehicle sales will continue at near-record pace in Australia this year – the only question is by how much the industry will exceed the magic million mark.
Official VFACTS figures released on Friday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show Australians purchased a record 1,112,032 vehicles – 62,000 more than the FCAI’s official forecast and 10.3 per cent (or nearly 104,000 vehicles) up on 2011.
The FCAI attributed much of the growth to the rebound from supply shortages following natural disasters in Japan and Thailand that year, and expects sales to decrease to a less artificial level of 1.075 million vehicles.
“This time last year, FCAI forecast an annual sales total of around 1,050,000 due to continuing global economic uncertainty,” said FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber.
“Thankfully Australia avoided much of the GFC aftermath and, with production resuming in Thailand and Japan, the automotive industry was able to respond to the enthusiasm of the car buying public with great deals on an almost overwhelming range of vehicles.
“This record 2012 result was the culmination of these factors.
“In this federal election year, both the importers and the local manufacturers are looking to the political parties to provide the policy certainty needed to maintain a competitive and innovative automotive industry in Australia.
“During this election year, and with production from Thailand and Japan having now caught up with back orders, we are nevertheless cautiously optimistic... 2013 is promising to be a very interesting year for the Australian automotive industry.”
Market leader for 10 consecutive years, Toyota, has also forecast industry sales of “well above one million” – as has the other big mover in 2012, Mazda – which would see the magic million mark exceeded six times annually since 2007.
While Toyota sales were up a big 20.1 per cent last year to 218,176 (its second-best result since 2008, when 238,983 Toyotas were sold here), Mazda sales surged by 17.6 per cent to 103,886 – within 11,000 sales of second-placed Holden, whose sales slumped by 9.1 per cent to just 114,665 vehicles, its worst result in 19 years.
Helping Mazda into third place for the first time was the Mazda3 (pictured), which was crowned Australia’s top-selling vehicle for the second year running following all-time record sales of 44,128.
Hyundai’s sales growth slowed to 5.2 per cent, but the Korean importer still relegated Ford (down 0.9 per cent) to fifth place overall for the first time, while seventh-placed Mitsubishi was the only other top-ten brand to post a sales decline in 2012 – down 3.7 per cent.
All other top-ten brands also out-paced the overall industry growth, including sixth-placed Nissan (up 17.4 per cent), eighth-placed Volkswagen (which achieved the highest sales increase of the volume brands at 22.6 per cent), ninth-placed Subaru (up 18.2 per cent) and 10th-placed Subaru (up 18.9 per cent).
The FCAI says Australia’s automotive industry continues to defy downturns in other market sectors due to the nation’s strong currency, reduced import duty and an unrivalled number of brands on offer, resulting in one of the world’s most competitive auto markets.
Last year 67 automotive brands were on offer to Australians – up from 54 a decade ago and more than both the UK and US, where just 38 brands compete in an annual market of about 12 million sales.
“Tariff reductions have made Australia an extremely attractive market for the vehicle industry,” said Mr Weber.
“Reduced tariffs as well as changing consumer preferences have contributed to making the dynamic and innovative automotive industry that we have today.
“A decade ago the most popular car sold more than 80,000 vehicles, which was just over 10 per cent of demand for the year. In the year just past, the top selling car achieved 44,128, less than four per cent of the market total.
“The top 10 cars in 2012 combined sold 27 per cent, which demonstrates the fragmentation of the contemporary Australian market.”
While passenger cars still comprised a dominant 51.9 per cent of the total industry last year (down from 76 per cent 20 years ago), their sales increase of just 3.1 per cent was comprehensively eclipsed by SUV sales, which rose a huge 25.3 per cent to exceed 300,000 for the first time – double that of a decade ago.
SUVs now comprise 27.5 per cent of total new vehicle sales, while light commercial vehicles also set an all-time sales record of 198,302 – 12.2 per cent up on 2011 – after being in decline since 2008.
While the Mazda3 again topped the sales charts, this year second place went to Toyota’s HiLux, with Holden’s once-dominant Commodore slipping to fourth, just ahead of the same brand’s smaller Cruze. Another LCV – Nissan’s Navara – also featured in the top 10.
And while Toyota had four models in the top 10 (HiLux, the third-placed Corolla, seventh-placed Camry and ninth-placed Yaris), the 10th-placed Focus was the only Blue Oval model inside the top 10.
Top 10 cars for 2012:
Mazda3 – 44,128
Toyota HiLux – 40,646
Toyota Corolla – 38,799
Holden Commodore – 30,532
Holden Cruze – 29,161
Hyundai i30 – 28,348
Toyota Camry – 27,230
Nissan Navara – 26,045
Toyota Yaris – 18,808
Ford Focus – 18,586
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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