VFACTS for April: Ford draws ahead of Holden

Ford outsold Holden last month, beating its traditional marketplace rival for the first time in 2016.

The margin was small – and Holden remains around 4000 units ahead of Ford for the year to date – but it's the first sign that Ford's post-manufacturing marketing strategy is turning things around for the company.

Ford's sales recovery – roughly 4000 units ahead of its sales tally for the same period last year – is some good news in the face of the company's fifth financial loss in a row. That loss is entirely due to expenses incurred winding down the manufacturing operations at Campbellfield (vehicle assembly) and Geelong (engine production). The loss amounts to $162 million for 2015. That at least is nearly $30 million better than the loss in 2014.

The company has placed the blame for the loss squarely on the shoulders of local manufacturing, offering this statement in its 2015 annual financial report: "Significant costs relating to the planned closure of manufacturing operations impact the 2015 financial year and the profitability of locally produced vehicles.

"The company continues to improve the performance of our import vehicle product line up as well as our customer service experience to build a business sustainable over the longer term."

Ford's sales growth in Australia this year is on the back of the Everest SUV, the Ranger 4x4 and the Mustang (pictured). Between them, these three models have contributed about 5500 extra sales. The nett gain was held back by slower sales of the locally manufactured products (Falcon and Territory), and imported passenger cars from Thailand (Fiesta and Focus). Sales of other SUVs (EcoSport and Kuga) have improved for the year so far, and the Mondeo is selling at around four times the sales rate for the same period in 2015, but still a long way shy of Mazda6, Subaru Liberty and Volkswagen Passat, let alone the rampaging Toyota Camry.

"We believe Ranger 4x4 out-selling Hilux 4x4 is our most important achievement in April as Ranger is a key driver of our overall brand transformation plan and leading local investment – both of which are gaining traction with the public," observed Wes Sherwood, Ford Australia Communications & Public Affairs Director.

According to Sherwood, Ford Australia's transition from fleet-focused to higher private sales is "driving our overall sales momentum".

Some of the sales are due to improved customer retention figures, Sherwood says, and that's due to the company putting in the groundwork at retail level.

"The free loan car program is a good example but the work to transform our dealerships has touched nearly every corner of the stores that have thus far gone through the process and now have seen significant improvements with customers."

On balance then, it's a welcome change for Ford, but the company continues to lag behind rivals in the small and light car segments. That may be in part a reflection of continuing customer dissatisfaction with Ford's PowerShift transmission in the imported passenger cars. The issue is threatening to play out in court.

"Ford is committed to providing its customers with top quality vehicles," Sherwood says. "We are equally committed to addressing potential issues and responding quickly for our customers.

"We have addressed the majority of our customers’ questions and are pleased with our ongoing improvement in customer satisfaction levels."

The Ford Australia spokesman says that Ford encourages customers "work with their local dealers on their individual circumstances."

Overall, April sales across the whole market were around 6000 units ahead (to 87,571 for the month), year on year. That's a 7.2 per cent gain, taking the whole market to 372,899 new-car sales for the year to date… already 13,000 sales ahead of the same time last year, which set new records for the industry.

Top selling brands for the year to date are: Toyota (63,060), Mazda (38,910), Hyundai (33,045), Holden (29,229), Ford (25,483), Mitsubishi (22,385), Nissan (21,407), Volkswagen (19,311), Subaru (14,924) and Mercedes-Benz (13,366). Toyota, Holden and Nissan have sold fewer cars for the year so far.

The top 10 cars for April were: Hyundai i30 (4143), Toyota HiLux (3384), Ford Ranger (2973), Toyota Corolla (2959), Mazda3 (2512), Toyota LandCruiser (1982), Holden Commodore (1908), Volkswagen Golf (1905), Mazda CX-5 (1675) and Mazda CX-3 (1604).

And the top 10 cars for 2016 so far are: Toyota Hilux (12883), Toyota Corolla (12784), Mazda3 (12733), Hyundai i30 (12654), Ford Ranger (11006), Holden Commodore (8040), Mazda CX-5 (7833), Mitsubishi Triton (7547), Volkswagen Golf (6844) and Hyundai Tucson (6485).