VFACTS for July: Aussies not on the podium

July was yet another bad month for Australian manufacturing. In a market of 86,641 — an improvement of 5650 on the same month last year — Aussie car builders contributed just 9757 units, nearly 3500 less than in July last year.

As the source of cars for domestic sale, Australia placed fourth in the VFACTS Olympics. Japan (29,110) was our primary supplier of new cars, Thailand (14,382) was runner up and Korea (11,467) wasn't far behind.

Holden's combined Commodore (2399 SWB, 622 utes, 128 Caprices) and Cruze (1875) production amounted to just 5024 units for the month; down 2302 from the figure of 7326 in July 2011. Ford's combined Falcon (941 sedans, 397 utes) and Territory (1084) production totaled 2422 for the month, 1312 fewer than the same month last year, when the company notched up 3734 units. Toyota's locally manufactured product, Camry (1775) and Aurion (536), were the only Aussie-built cars (an aggregate of 2311) that performed better last month than a year earlier, when sales of the two cars reached 2150.

In year to date sales, Ford is the only company of the three to post a nett decline (19,920 as of last month, 1247 fewer than the same period in 2011). Holden (42,198) is 2395 units ahead, and Toyota (17,315) has gained 1986 more sales. Despite Ford looking like a lost cause, it continues to sell more locally-built vehicles in Australia than Toyota, in either year-to-date or monthly sales.

Other than domestic sales of the local-built products, the market continues to look very buoyant. Based on the VFACTS figures for July, the total of 86,641 vehicles sold during the month marked a gain of 5650 over July 2011. In year to date terms, the 634,495 vehicles sold so far in 2012 have moved the market 9.9 per cent (57,268 vehicles) ahead of the same period last year.

For the month, passenger cars (43,354 sold) declined by 2347 units, with large cars (2496 units down) more than offsetting gains in Light, Small, Medium and Sports segments. The one other segment to lose sales during the month was the people mover segment. SUVs (23,845) rose by 4462 units and light commercial vehicles (16,903) forged ahead 3450 units.

Overlooking the monthly sales tally for the Camry and Aurion ranges built at Altona, Toyota had good reason to crow. It remains the top-selling brand in Australia for the year to date, sold more vehicles than Holden and Mazda combined during the month, and had four cars in the top 10 for the month, including the country's most popular vehicle in July, the HiLux pick-up.

It's a sign that Toyota has fully recovered from the natural disasters that stopped production dead in its tracks in Japan, Thailand and even Australia last year. And the juggernaut is rolling along at a thundering pace this year, introducing new models and boosting the brand with the 86 sports car.

"In the past five months alone, we have introduced three models that are totally new to our line-up - 86, Prius c and Prius v," said Matthew Calachor, Toyota Australia's executive director sales and marketing.

"We have also revitalised our entire range of locally produced cars - Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion, as well as the popular Yaris," he was quoted saying in a press release.

"These launches, as well as Toyota's quicker-than-expected recovery from last years' natural disasters, have underpinned the growth in sales this year."

SUVs are a mainstay of Toyota's improving fortunes, according to Mr Callachor.

"Toyota SUVs sales rose by a massive 58 per cent July-on-July, led by Prado which more than doubled its year-ago result while light-commercial sales jumped 33.8 per cent and passenger-car sales gained 28.7 per cent."

Another company enjoying a bumper crop is Nissan. July was its third month in a row setting new sales records. The company recorded 6148 vehicles sold last month, making it the best July for the brand since the cessation of local manufacture in 1991. According to Nissan, the July result represented an 18 per cent gain on the figure of July 2011 — in a market that rose around 6 per cent year on year. As with Toyota, but on a smaller scale, Nissan's sales strength came principally from its SUV and LCV models, including Navara, X-TRAIL and Dualis, all of which set new sales records for July. The Dualis result last month had improved on the previous July result by an astonishing 75 per cent (1183 versus 675).

“To continue such impressive growth in a competitive market is a credit to our hard working people right across the country,” said Nissan Australia CEO William F Peffer Jr.

“After a highly impressive end to the Australian financial year, we have again earned our ‘unfair share’ for July, a traditionally slow sales month. The success of our marketing communications, including our new brand campaign, combined with solid and simple offers have seen us continue to out-perform the industry. We are determined to continue delivering ‘Innovation That Excites’ and with new models such as Almera, Patrol and the return of Pulsar all on the horizon, we are energised about our future.”

Top selling brands for the year to date are: Toyota (123,815), Holden (65,119), Mazda (60,084), Hyundai (52,913), Ford (50,333), Nissan (46,034), Mitsubishi (34,567), Volkswagen (30,930), Subaru (24,364), Honda (19,022). All companies in the top 10 have posted stronger results, year on year, except Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi and Honda.

The best selling cars during the month of July were: Toyota Hilux (4163), Mazda3 (3355), Toyota Corolla (2985), Holden Commodore (2399), Nissan Navara (2164), Hyundai i30 (2045), Holden Cruze (1875), Toyota Camry (1775), Ford Ranger (1688), Toyota Yaris (1518).

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