VFACTS for November: Million plus market in the bag

Myer and David Jones may have their collective fingers crossed for a late rush of pre-Christmas spending, but for the automotive industry Christmas is already here.

According to VFACTS figures for November, sales rose 1.8 per cent over the same month last year, for a total of 87,342. Passenger vehicles (49,405) were up 2346 units for the month and SUVs (20,806) improved by 2446 sales. Light commercial vehicles (14,668) fell back by 3246 units.

Despite the lack of federal government tax breaks this year, the year-to-date total for 2010 is 948,987 -- setting up the market for an easy coast through December to achieve the magic million. The total for 2010 so far is over 100,000 units (11.8 per cent) ahead of the same point in 2009, which was a year that got off to a slow start, thanks to fears of a GFC-driven recession that never eventuated.

"These figures show new car sales continue to outperform other economic indicators, including retail spending and business investment," FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

"Much of the strength of the market can be attributed to the affordability of new vehicles, evidenced by the healthy sales to private buyers (up 9.6 per cent in November).

"It is now clear that total sales for 2010 will safely exceed one million units -- only the third time this will have been achieved."

As indicated by the increased sales of passenger cars and SUVs, private buyers continue to support the market strongly, partly explaining perhaps why the upswing in these two class of vehicles is mostly centred around smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles (light, small passenger vehicles and compact/medium SUVs). After all, if you're spending your own money on fuel -- and not the company's -- you want it to go as far as possible. But there's more to the mood of the market than just typical bargain-hunting buyers on a post GFC shopping frenzy.

Take Mercedes-Benz for example. The prestige importer has revealed that its C-Class range (C 250 CGi pictured), in year-to-date terms has outsold every medium-segment passenger car other than the Toyota Camry and the Mazda6. For the month of November, the Benz even overtook the Mazda -- and the C-Class usually numbers cars like the BMW 3 Series among its competitors, not the volume sellers from mainstream importers.

"We are not surprised as we have continually focused on keeping the C-Class fresh with product enhancements," said Benz MD, Horst von Sanden. "What does surprise us is that the C-Class is actually the third biggest selling medium car in the Australian market regardless of segment."

It's a similar story with the E-Class, which is a large car competing in the above $70,000 tier, but the sedan models have outsold Nissan's altogether more affordable Maxima and the Skoda Superb, both in year-to-date numbers and sales for last month. The surprising result comes on the back of a 30 per cent pick-up in sales of the E-Class for 2010.

As the year draws to a close, it's proving to be all peaches and cream for Mercedes-Benz. In addition to the strong showing from the C and E-Class models, the company's strategy to reposition the B-Class and drop the A-Class is bearing fruit. Year-to-date sales of the B-Class have reached 1792 -- nearly 50 per cent better than full year 2009 sales of the A- and B-Class models combined. And that's not counting the projected December 2010 sales.

At the other end of the market, the entire 2010 allocation of the SLS AMG has been sold and 40 vehicles have already been delivered.

Other highlights for the month included Subaru's new November sales record of 3378 vehicles, buoyed by the Impreza's performance of 1260 units for the month -- nearly 50 per cent better than Impreza sales during November 2009.

Last month was also the best November in Suzuki's history and the Japanese importer is supremely confident of another annual record for 2010. Most of the company's gains can be traced back to the newly-launched Kizashi mid-sizer and the recently upgraded and repackaged Alto -- which sold double the number of vehicles last month as it did in November 2009.

Yet another November record was broken by Hyundai, the company selling 6220 vehicles last month -- its best result for the penultimate month since launching in Australia back in 1986. Based on year-to-date figures, the importer is 25 per cent ahead of its 2009 tally. Getz managed to secure second spot in the light-car segment, despite the introduction of the i20, which nominally competes for the same sales.

With sales up 11.4 for the year to date, the Mazda3 is setting a cracking pace and has already broken its own sales record -- even without the December sales numbers. The small car's performance is credited with helping the brand on its way to a new annual sales record. For December, the importer only needs to sell 2039 vehicles to break the previous (2008) record of 79,826 vehicles for the year.

The top ten car companies for the year to date are: Toyota (193,778), Holden (122,479), Ford (88,065), Mazda (77,788), Hyundai (74,161), Mitsubishi (57,327), Nissan (57,115), Subaru (37,285), Honda (37,096), Volkswagen (35,269). Barring Honda, all companies have increased sales from last year.

The top ten-selling cars for the month were: Toyota Corolla (4536), Holden Commodore (3771), Toyota Hilux (3241), Mazda3 (2980), Holden Cruze (2721), Ford Falcon (2368), Toyota Yaris (2270), Toyota Camry (2232), Hyundai i30 (1772), Nissan Navara (1733).

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