Australia New-Vehicle Sales Top 1 Million Mark Again in 2012

Australian new-vehicle sales passed the 1 million-unit mark for the fifth time in history, as 2012 deliveries rose 10.3% to 1,112,032, comfortably beating the previous record of 1.05 million set five years earlier.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber calls the result quite a feat in a global economy that has been under pressure in recent years. It also reflects that the Australian market is one of the most open and competitive in the world.

“Reduced tariffs, as well as changing consumer preferences, have contributed to making the dynamic and innovative automotive industry that we have today,” Weber says in a statement.

“The 2012 sales result bears that out. Customer demand has been high and the industry has responded with a wide range of vehicles powered by a range of different fuels.”

New passenger-vehicle sales climbed 10.6% in December to 50,618 units for a 12-month total up 3.1% to 576,855.

Light-commercial-vehicle deliveries soared 40.0% to 16,481 units for a full-year total up 12.2% to 198,302.

Weber says the results come amid changing consumer preferences that are reflected in segment market shares. The single largest category remains the car sector at 51.9%, but the SUV segment increased its share 3.3 percentage points to 27.5% with record sales of 305,825 units.

For the second successive year, the imported Mazda3 was Australia’s most popular model with 44,128 units. The Toyota HiLux (40,646) followed, ahead of the Toyota Corolla (38,799), Holden Commodore (down 24.8% to 30,532) and Holden Cruze (29,161).

Toyota was the best-selling brand in 2011, up 20.1% to 218,176 units, for a 19.6% market share.

GM Holden, down 9.1% to 114,665 units (10.3% share) followed, ahead of Mazda, up 17.6% to 103,886 (9.3%).

Hyundai took fourth place, up 5.2% to 91,536 vehicles, pushing Ford down from third to fifth, with sales off 0.9% to 90,408.

The SUV and light-commercial segments led the sales charge throughout 2012, growing 25.3% and 12.2%, respectively.

The FCAI’s outlook for 2013 is cautiously optimistic, calling for a small decline in demand but for volume to surpass the 1 million mark once again.

“In 2012, Australia thankfully avoided much of the global financial crisis aftermath and, with production resuming in disaster-affected nations, the automotive industry was able to respond to the enthusiasm of the car buying public with great deals on an almost overwhelming range of vehicles,” Weber says.

“During this (federal) election year, and with production now having caught up with back orders, FCAI forecasts a national automotive market of 1,075,000 for 2013.”

Toyota set a December record by delivering 21,169 units, more than the combined sales of the next two auto makers.

Melbourne’s The Age newspaper quotes Toyota Australia Sales and Marketing Senior Executive Director Matthew Callachor as saying higher wages, lower interest rates and competitively priced imports have been driving the big growth in recent years.

Callachor says car affordability is the best it has been since the 1970s.

‘‘While it took 40 weeks of average weekly earnings to buy a 6-cyl. family car in 1991, today it takes just 30 weeks,’’ he says,

It was the 16th time Toyota has been the No.1 car company in Australia. Its sales now have topped 200,000 units in eight of the past nine years and it remains the only auto maker ever to have reached that total.

Mazda became the first full-line import brand to break the 100,000 sales mark.

Last year was Mazda's best on record, with sales up 17.6% to 103,886 units. That easily beat its previous high of 88,333 set in 2011.

Mazda3’s December sales of 4,649 – a record month for any Mazda model – contributed to the car’s best-ever result of 44,128 units. Also breaking records were the CX-5 (15,681 units), Mazda2 (17,574) and BT-50 (11,848).

Nissan sales rose 17% to an all-time high of 79,787 units after a best-ever December result, up 22% year-on-year to 7,329 units. It was the 8th consecutive month of record sales.

Fiat Chrysler Group’s 2012 deliveries soared 79.4% to 21,401 units, and Managing Director Clyde Campbell says this is just the start.

“We are the fastest growing car company in Australia and we certainly won’t be holding back in the year ahead,” he says in a statement.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was the strongest performer with sales up 248.2% to 8,373 units in 2012.

Subaru volume rose 18.2% to a record 40,189 units, spearheaded by booming demand for its SUV range. The previous high of 40,025 was set in 2010

The evergreen Forester sold 11,533 units in 2012 and Subaru’ new small SUV, the XV, sold 9,908 in just 11 months on the market.

BMW deliveries rose 5.2% in 2012 to a record 18,413 units, while Audi sales grew for the eighth straight year to 14,535 on a 23% uptick to 1,197 vehicles in December.

Renault sales jumped 38% to 5,011 units, its best result since returning to Australia in 2001. Managing Director Justin Hocevar credits the expansion of the dealer network, new product and a number of customer friendly initiatives for the growth.