VFACTS 2017: Winners and losers

So 2017 was another record year for Australia’s auto industry, with the surging popularity of SUVs and utes driving almost 1.2 million new vehicle registrations.

Thanks in large part to its all-conquering HiLux, Toyota led the way for the 15th year in a row as Australian car-making came to an end, but there were other stellar – and not so stellar – performers in terms of brands, models and segments.

The winners
Biggest mainstream mover was Kia, which broke the 50,000 annual sales barrier for the first time with 54,737 regos – up 12,069 cars or 28.3 per cent over the previous record of 42,668 set in 2016.

Helping hoist Kia ahead of Subaru to ninth place overall were 18,731 Cerato sales (up 42.9%), 13,448 Sportage sales (up 23.1%), 6852 Rio sales (up 13.2%), 5878 Carnival sales (up 23%), 4724 Sorento sales (up 12.4%), 3323 Picanto sales (up 71.8%) and more than 500 Stinger sales since September.

Only two Kia models were down last year (Optima and Rondo), the Picanto and Carnival accounted for almost half the micro-car and mainstream people-mover segments respectively, and there’s an all-new Cerato sedan and hatch coming in 2018.

“This is an outstanding result that has been built around the foundations of great product, consistent brand messaging and exceptional customer service and experience,” said Kia Motors Australia COO, Damien Meredith.

“It was encouraging that Kia’s sales improvements were across most of the model range, providing a very solid foundation for continued growth.

“While it is a very pleasing result — and a reward for a lot of work from a lot of people -- the focus now is on 2018 and the considerable challenges the industry faces going forward.”

Mitsubishi was next best top 10 performer with sales up 9.9 per cent to 80,654 – enough to overtake Ford for fifth overall – thanks to Triton, ASX, Outlander, Pajero Sport and the evergreen Lancer and Pajero, all of which were up.

Finishing just outside the top 10 despite a 14.6 per cent sales lift due mostly to its new Civic and CR-V was Honda, with 46,783 sales.

Right behind in 12th was Mercedes-Benz Cars with 37,068 sales (up 3.1%) courtesy of 8500-plus C-Class sales – up more than 25 per cent – and 7420 AMG sales (20% of the total).

Excluding a further 5421 vans (up 14.4%), the figure saw Benz step further ahead of BMW (23,619 sales, down 15.7%) and Audi (22,011 sales, down 9.3%) in the luxury market battle.

In fact, Mercedes was the eighth top selling brand in passenger cars and, along with Porsche (4484 sales, up 1.1%), was the only luxury brand to increase sales in 2017, excluding niche European car-makers.

Just behind Benz in 13th (and jumping ahead of BMW and Audi) was Isuzu Ute with 25,804 sales – up 10.4 per cent, making 2017 the ninth consecutive year the company has achieved double-digit growth. IUA has now sold more than 120,000 vehicles since its arrival in 2008.

What makes this more remarkable is that IUA sells just two models in two highly competitive segments: the recently upgraded D-MAX ute and MU-X SUV.

With 8087 sales (up more than 15%), the seven-seat MU-X is now the top-selling ute-based mainstream SUV, outselling the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Ford Everest, Holden Trailblazer and Toyota Fortuner.

Despite being launched just four years ago in 2013, the MU-X was the sixth most popular sub-$70,000 large SUV in Australia last year, and second only to the Toyota Prado in Queensland.

Meantime, with 17,717 sales (4x4 up 13%), the D-MAX overtook Nissan’s Navara for fifth place in the one-tonne ute segment, ahead of the Mazda BT-50 and Volkswagen Amarok.

“We are particularly proud of the growth of the D-MAX and MU-X in an extremely competitive market,” said IUA managing director, Hiro Kuramoto.

“We are excited to see that our updated models have really hit the mark with our consumers.

“As we head into our 10th year of sales, we are confident that our ongoing commitment to continuously refine and improve our products to meet Australian needs will ensure another exciting year for the brand as we strive to hit double-digit growth again in 2018.”

Other notable 2017 sales performances were posted by Subaru (52,511, up 11.7%) thanks to its new Impreza, and Skoda (5350, up 12.4%) thanks to Fabia and Superb.

Outside the top 25 brands there were big gains from a rejuvenated Great Wall (740 Steed ute sales, up 53.2%) and Lotus (60, up 100%), while Chinese newcomers LDV (2580 sales) and Haval (710) were up a respective 67.3 and 148.3 per cent.

Also notching up double-digit 2017 sales growth were Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren and Rolls-Royce, while American Special Vehicles shifted almost 400 RAM pick-ups.

The losers
There were a similar number of sales tumbles recorded in 2017, the largest among the top 10 brands being Nissan’s at 15.3 per cent, thanks to the axing of the Pulsar, Micra, Altima, LEAF, Murano and old Patrol.

Having been overtaken by Volkswagen for seventh overall (despite the German brand running out of Tiguan and Amarok V6 stocks) and with Kia and Subaru now right behind, new product can’t come soon enough for Nissan.

Even bigger sales slumps were lodged in percentage terms by Chrysler (258 sales, down 44.2%), Jeep (8270, down 34.5%), Citroen (735, down 23.8%), Volvo Car (4681, down 20.4%), Jaguar (2483, down 17.5%) and Fiat (2008, down 16.8%), not to mention dormant brands like Dodge, Proton, Chery, Ssangyong, Caterham and Foton.

But in volume terms the biggest losers behind Nissan, which shed more than 10,000 sales last year, were Hyundai, Holden and Ford.

Hyundai retained third place behind the unassailable Toyota and stagnant Mazda, whose CX-5 and CX-9 sales success was eroded by slumps for every other model, including the volume-selling Mazda3.

However, with just over 97,000 sales, the Korean car-maker was more than 4500 units or 4.5 per cent shy of its 2016 results, thanks in large part to a 23.8 per cent plunge in sales of its new i30.

Like the Toyota Corolla (down 7.4%) and Mazda3 (down 9.5%), the i30’s demise is indicative of a stagnant small-car segment and declining passenger cars sales, which were eclipsed by SUVs for the first time.

The former shrank by 7.5 per cent to 450,012, while the latter grew by 5.6 per cent year-on-year to 465,646, with HiLux topping the overall charts ahead of the Ford Ranger, Corolla, Mazda3 and i30.

While Ford also shed more than 3000 sales (down 3.8 per cent) and was overtaken by Mitsubishi for fifth, Holden remained fourth but lost more than 4000 sales (down 4.2%) last year.

The former industry leader’s market share slipped to just 7.6 per cent – the lowest ever – despite an extra 13,000 Astra sales, and its biggest seller remained the now-discontinued homegrown Commodore.

2018 sales by brand:
1. Toyota — 216,566 (+3.3%)
2. Mazda — 116,349 (-1.6%)
3. Hyundai — 97,013 (-4.5%)
4. Holden — 90,306 (-4.2%)
5. Mitsubishi — 80,654 (+9.9%)
6. Ford — 78,161 (-3.8%)
7. Volkswagen — 58,004 (+2.5%)
8. Nissan — 56,594 (-15.3%)
9. Kia — 54,737 (+28.3%)
10. Subaru — 52,511 (+11.7%)
11. Honda — 46,783 (+14.6%)
12. Mercedes-Benz Cars — 37,068 (+3.1%)
13. Isuzu Ute — 25,804 (+10.4%)
14. BMW — 23,619 (-15.7%)
15. Audi — 22,011 (-9.3%)
16. Suzuki — 19,256 (-1.2%)
17. Land Rover — 13,112 (-3.6%)
18. Renault — 10,812 (-2.7%)
19. Lexus — 8800 (-2.5%)
20. Jeep — 8270 (-34.5%)
21. Mercedes-Benz Vans — 5421 (+14.4%)
22. Skoda — 5350 (+12.4%)
23. Volvo Car — 4681 (-20.4%)
24. Porsche — 4484 (+1.1%)
25. MINI — 3712 (-1.4%)
26. Peugeot — 3392 (+8.4%)
27. LDV — 2580 (+67.3%)
28. Jaguar — 2483 (-17.5%)
29. Fiat — 2008 (-16.8%)
30. Fiat Professional — 1270 (-14.6%)
31. Alfa Romeo — 1057 (+48.7%)
32. Infiniti — 776 (-3.8%)
33. Maserati — 740 (+53.2%)
34. Citroen — 735 (-23.8%)
35. Haval — 710 (+148.3%)
36. MG — 600 (-)
37. Great Wall — 404 (+267.3%)
38. RAM — 398 (+36.3%)
39. Foton Light — 371 (-55.8%)
40. Chrysler — 258 (-44.2%)
41. Bentley — 219 (+15.3%)
42. Ferrari — 210 (+11.7%)
43. Aston Martin —144 (+25.2%)
44. Lamborghini — 122 (-3.9%)
45. McLaren — 116 (+24.7%)
46. Ssangyong — 96 (-74.1%)
47. Lotus — 62 (+100.0%)
48. Rolls-Royce — 45 (+21.6%)
49. Proton — 39 (-78.6%)
50. Genesis — 26 (-)
51. Morgan — 8 (+60.0%)
52. Chery — 7 (-63.2%)
53. Dodge — 4 (-98.9%)
54. Caterham — 0 (-100%)