VFACTS 2019: Winners and losers

For a population of 25 million – far less actually driving cars – Australia does love itself a brand-new set of wheels. Even, it seems, when times are tough.

The numbers are in, and despite a slowing economy and stagnant wage growth, currency fluctuations and no shortage of environmental challenges including most recently devastating bushfires, the new car market once again exceeded one million vehicles in 2019 according to official VFACTS data released on Monday.

Granted, the annual tally was the lowest since 2011, and December represented the 21st consecutive month of sliding sales. But further analysis reveals the calendar year was not glum for all manufacturers.

Here, we take a look at the winners and losers from 2019.

There are some notable winners in a market that finished 7.8 per cent in the red compared with 2018.

Firstly, RAM. In a rare win for Australian automotive workers, demand has soared for the American-sourced pick-up trucks, which are remanufactured to right-hand drive for American Special Vehicles by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, which owns HSV.

In 2019, RAM sold 2868 vehicles in Australia, a 297 per cent mark-up on 2018. The growth necessitated a tripling in output at the Australian distributor’s Clayton production facility, to 24 hours a day.

Kia was another mover and shaker of 2019, posting record sales and finishing sixth overall with 61,503 registrations – making it the only top-10 brand to record year-on-year growth (of 4.6%).

Even market leader Toyota was down 5.2 per cent, but the Japanese giant still sold more than 200,000 vehicles and, because other volume brands suffered more, increased its market share from 18.8 to 19.4 per cent.

The only other top-10 brand to increase its share was Mitsubishi (from 7.4 to 7.8%), which remained fourth overall in the pecking order but finished December second behind Toyota. Down 2.0 per cent, Mitsubishi’s sales declined less than all mainstream brands except Kia.

Elsewhere, Skoda’s sales were up 20 per cent thanks in part to new models and more SUVs, while in the luxury space there were three car-makers that defied market trends in 2019.

Volvo finished 16 per cent better than 2018, Lexus 9.0 per cent and BMW 1.1 per cent, with the fortunes of all three car-makers buoyed by new models – in the latter’s case the carsales Car of the Year-winning 3 Series and X5.

Green technology

Aussies bought more EVs and hybrids than ever in 2019.

Even without government incentives and a bourgeoning electric infrastructure network, EV and hybrid sales grew 114 per cent in 2019, from 15,680 to 33,566.

The growth is thanks in part to new models including the Toyota RAV4 hybrid, Hyundai IONIQ and more movement in the luxury space.

The growth in EV take-up is even more pronounced than the figures suggest, as the numbers don’t include Tesla’s Australian sales, which were buoyed by the delayed introduction of the Model 3 in 2019.

The rise of China

They’re hardly mainstream yet, but it seems the stigma around Chinese-built cars is slowly changing in Australia off the back of a greater emphasis on safety, more transparent aftersales care and greater quality.

The numbers from 2019 certainly suggest as much, with strong sales recorded across the board.

Great Wall was up 78 per cent, Haval recorded a 170 per cent increase, and MG enjoyed a 177 per cent boost.

LDV also managed a more modest 6.9 per cent increase, which still impressive for a market that finished in the red.

All told, Australians bought nearly 18,000 vehicles from China in 2019.

That may seem miniscule relative to automotive behemoths like Japan (335,000), Thailand (271,000) and Korea (150,000), but don’t forget they too were once minnows within the Australian industry.

Supercar (or SUV) heaven

Despite numerous fiscal challenges for everyday Australians, the top end of town was happy to spend their hard-earned last year.

In 2019, steady growth seemed to be the general consensus for exotic manufacturers. Ferrari (up 6.6 per cent to 257 cars), Lamborghini (up 9.7 per cent, McLaren (0 per cent), Porsche (6.4 per cent) and Rolls-Royce (up 37.5 per cent) all netted promising sales.

The common feature among many of those manufacturers was the introduction of an SUV.

Elsewhere, Aston Martin (down 22.8 per cent), Bentley (down 8.2 per cent) and Maserati (down 24.9 per cent) were relative outliers in a segment that continued to grow. while McLaren's sales were unchanged from 2018.

Which brands underperformed?

In the face of said challenges, 2019 proved difficult for many manufacturers. But some stood out more than others.

Alfa Romeo finished 2019 down 30.3 per cent compared with the previous year. It was a difficult period for the Italian manufacturer, underlined by stagnant sales for the Giulia and Giulietta.

Audi was another that will be eager to put 2019 behind it. The German marque was down 19.1 per cent on the back of WLTP emissions testing-related stock limitations that saw a big dip in sales for models including the Q3, which finished 70 per cent down.

We’ve reported Holden’s demise extensively in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. In 2019, the once-dominant Lion brand’s sales plummeted 28.9 per cent to 43,176 sales.

To put that in perspective, the Toyota HiLux outsold Holden’s entire portolio. The loss was compounded by confirmation Holden will retire the Commodore nameplate – once Australia’s favourite car brand – in the coming months.

Holden was not only the biggest loser among mainstream brands, shedding more than a point of market share (from 5.3 to 4.1%). Australia’s former market leader slipped to 10th on the sales ladder behind Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Ford, Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen and Honda.

Other mainstream marques to notch up significant sales slips were Honda (-14.9%), Mazda and Nissan (both -12.3%) and VW (-11.8%).

Jaguar was another manufacturer that struggled to hit its straps in 2019. Despite the introduction of a refreshed XE range, the ballistic new F-PACE SVR and the first full year of the electric I-PACE, Jaguar finished down 15 per cent.

Then, there was Jeep. The American SUV manufacturer’s sales fell 24.7 per cent in 2019, with only the refreshed Wrangler managing an increase on its performance in 2018.

Jeep’s total tally of 5519 sales is a long way from its recent glory, when clever marketing campaigns and fresher product put the brand in more Australian driveways.

The biggest loser for 2019, however, was Infiniti. In September, the Nissan-backed luxury marque finally cried enough and announced it would exit the Australian market in 2020 due to meagre sales, which amounted to just 571 in its final full year.