October sales hiccup puts million in doubt?

The new-car market sputtered slightly during October -- sales were down 6.8 per cent compared with the same month last year. Despite the hiccup and some industry pundits predicting the million sales barrier will not be broken in 2005, the the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says we’re still on track.

The new-car market’s overall year-to-date tally stood at 825,465 until the end of last month, which means 174,535 vehicles (or 87,267 per month) need to be sold during November and December for a seven-figure total to be achieved for the first time. Given the incentives trundled out by manufacturers as the year draws to a close, it’s a fair chance we’ll get there.

Some semblance of normality was restored to the pecking order during October, with Holden’s Commodore regaining its familiar perch atop the sales charts after being dethroned the previous month by the Toyota Corolla.

The Commodore’s October tally of 4906 sales put it well clear of the Corolla (3988), Ford Falcon (3642), Mazda3 (3142) and Holden Astra (2722).

However, rising fuel prices (and perhaps other factors such as general economic uncertainty) have at least temporarily taken the sting out of the new-car market. Passenger cars fell by 7.1 per cent (compared to September 2005) while SUV segments declined by a more substantial 10.1 per cent.

Not surprisingly, the biggest losers among passenger vehicles were of the large variety (down 31.6 per cent) and prestige cars (down 20.9 per cent). Also unsurprising was the spike in small-car sales (up 10.9 per cent) and, to a lesser extent, light cars (up 2.9 per cent).

As for the all-terrain-wagon categories, it was an across-the-board slump -- large SUVs dropped 9.0 per cent, compact  SUVs fell 8.5 per cent, while medium SUVs slipped 7.0 per cent.

Toyota has retained its stranglehold on overall market leadership, with 166,548 year-to-date sales. It’s trailed by Holden, Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan.

Indeed, while the overall market stalled in October sales, standout performer Mazda pushed past 6000 retails for only the third time, making the brand the country’s top-selling, full-line importer with market share of 7.9 per cent.

Mazda’s October performance of 6001 vehicles was up 46 per cent on the same month last year. Its sales were up 21.7 per cent on its September result.

Mazda3 was the company’s best seller in October with good supply lifting the sedan and hatch range to a sales record of 3142 cars. The all-new MX-5 had its first full month on the market and sold 156 cars, its best result since November 2000.

“A strong national sales campaign, coupled with good supply of the Mazda3 sedan and hatch and the newly updated Mazda2 and Mazda6 models has ensured that we continue to perform strongly this year,” said Mazda Australia managing director, Doug Dickson.

“We are still on track to achieve our revised sales target of 67,000 which is 7,000 more than we predicted at the start of the year,” Dickson said.

Top 10 manufacturers (YTD sales)