VFACTS for June: What a ripper!

New-car sales last month achieved a new record for June, but the incremental growth over the same month last year was held back by slower sales for some companies.

Illustrating how some vehicle distributors had much more to show for their June sales than others, take Suzuki for example. The importer sold 2342 cars for the month, a result that was 14 per cent ahead of the tally for June last year -- and the company's third best monthly performance ever.

Even 14 per cent ahead of June '09, Suzuki has arguably enjoyed a belter of a year already, with sales up 23 per cent so far, and two per cent higher than the same period during the company's record-breaking year of 2008.

"These results confirm Suzuki's position as one of the fastest growing brands in the country," said Suzuki Australia General Manager Tony Devers, understating the situation to perfection.

Devers credited the company's Alto light car with the improved result and with more stock of this model entering the country, the importer anticipates meeting its sales target in 2010.

"We are well on track to meet our target of 25,000 vehicles and 2.6 per cent market share," he said.

In addition to Suzuki, Audi, Citroen, Holden, Honda, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, MINI, Nissan, Skoda and Volkswagen all picked up June sales growth exceeding 10 per cent, year on year.

June is normally a big month for sales and this year was no exception, with the total market amounting to 108,722 vehicles sold. That's 5.7 per cent growth over the June 2009 figure of 102,847 units, but percentage barely compares with the growth of 16.7 per cent over the year to date. In 2010, the industry has recorded 531,168 units sold, 75,945 units ahead of the same period last year. 

There are two inferences to be drawn from this. Just like the tide before the tsunami, buyers last year held off acquiring a new car until the final month of the financial year, artificially bolstering sales in June '09 and leaving the market flat during the first five months of that year. Perhaps fleet buyers were spending the remainder of their budget, but it might also have been due to the news that Australia had escaped recession. Secondly, June sales last year were likely enhanced by the government's business tax break at the time, as was the case later in the year.

Total sales for June were 2181 units ahead of the previous record, 106,541, set in June 2008. Most of the gain came from passenger vehicles, with an extra 4983 vehicles sold and 4138 more SUVs sold on top of that. So the gain over June 2009 would have been more than 9000 vehicles if not for light commercials, which actually slipped back 3292 units for the month.

"The record June result is a clear demonstration of renewed confidence in the marketplace," FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

"It is encouraging to see that private buyers have returned to the market in greater numbers and have taken over the momentum previously attributed to business sales.

"Given the stronger than expected state of the market over the past six months, the industry has upgraded its annual sales forecast to in excess of 980,000 units – up from our original forecast of 940,000 sales.

"This is a positive yet cautious outlook for the second half of the year, as we assess the impact of factors on the market such as previous interest rate increases."

According to VFACTS, the industry surpassed the million-sale mark during the just concluded financial year -- with 1,013,273 vehicles sold. Given the monthly result in June, the FCAI's upgraded forecast could be judged conservative and some car company bosses are already predicting another one-million-plus calendar year for 2010.

During June, passenger cars rose overall, with gains in light, small and medium segments, but all other segments actually lost ground. The only SUV segment to lose sales compared with June '09 was the large SUV segment -- basically comprising Toyota's 200 Series LandCruiser and the Nissan Patrol. Light buses and 4x4 pick-ups saw sales improve during the month, but sales headed south in every other segment of the light commercial vehicles class.

Top ten importers and manufacturers based on year-to-date sales were: Toyota (107,470), Holden (68,657), Ford (49,196), Mazda (42,871), Hyundai (42,371), Nissan (32,830), Mitsubishi (32,372), Honda (22,205), Subaru (21,109) and Volkswagen (19,306). Only Honda failed to snare more sales than at this time last year.

The top ten cars for the month were: Holden Commodore (4697), Toyota Corolla (4194), Toyota Hilux (4101), Mazda3 (3680), Hyundai i30 (3209), Holden Cruze (2987), Ford Falcon (2651), Mitsubishi Lancer (2538), Volkswagen Golf (2527), Nissan Navara (2415).

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