Commercial Vehicles Drive Oz February Sales Gains

Three Japanese auto makers topped the Australian sales chart in February, dropping local brand GM Holden to fourth place.

February deliveries rose 5.2% from year-ago to 90,218 units, up 8.1% to 175,648 for the first two months.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data shows Toyota retaining the top position for February with 16,017 units for a 17.8% market share, ahead of Mazda with 8,728 and Nissan with 8,212.

GM Holden followed with 8.5% of the market, ahead of Hyundai at 8.3% and Ford at 7.3%.

Three of Australia’s five best-sellers in February were light-commercial vehicles.

The Mazda3 again was the top-selling vehicle with 3,378 units, followed by the Toyota HiLux (3,319), Toyota Corolla (3,158), Nissan Navara (2,645) and Mitsubishi Triton (2,335).

Car sales continued their months-long decline, with deliveries down 5.7% from year-ago to 43,338 units. The LCV market jumped 26.9% to 17,710, while the SUV segment rose 14.2% to 26,834. This left combined SUV and LCV deliveries slightly higher than the car segment.

FCAI says in a statement both private and business buyers have driven growth at the expense of the medium- and large-car categories. Medium car sales fell 26.6% to 5,285 units and large cars were down 28.1% to 3,786, compared with like-2012.

Toyota remained Australia’s runaway market leader with February sales 83.5% higher than its nearest competitor. February deliveries also improved 19.7% over January and 7.9% over like-2012.

Despite the move away from cars, Toyota’s Corolla, Camry Hybrid, Aurion and Prius all recorded higher year-on-year sales last month.

Toyota Australia Sales and Marketing Executive Director Matthew Callachor says the auto maker’s volume through February was the highest since 2010.

“Toyota outperformed the overall market in February on the back of improved supplies of vehicles,” Callachor says in a statement. “Dealers will be in an even better position to deliver cars during March.”

Mazda secured second place in the car market with a best-ever February 8,728 units for a record 2-month total of 17,640.

Nissan’s February result, up 32% year-on-year and up 34% over January, marked its 10th consecutive monthly sales record and its third-best in Australia. The Japanese auto maker outsold both GM Holden and Ford last month.

“Nissan’s momentum in Australia is strong and continues to build,” Nissan Australia Managing Director and CEO William Peffer says in a statement.

Hyundai reported its best-ever February total of 7,505 sales, good for fifth place. It finished third in the car segment with 4,918 units and an 11.3% share. The Veloster, ix35, iLoad and iMax finished second, and the i30 ranked third in their respective categories.

Fiat-Chrysler is on its way to recording its strongest-ever quarter for the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, with February deliveries jumping 34.9% to 2,144 units, up 44.7% to 4,050 year-to-date.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee more than doubled year-ago deliveries with 970 units.

Newcomer Opel posted its best Australian sales result to date with 241 deliveries in February.

“With new Opel models coming out of Europe and many of them high on our wish list, we’re very much looking forward to what the remainder of the year is set to bring for us locally,” Opel Australia Managing Director Bill Mott says in a statement.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s new-vehicle sales rose 10.6% in February to 7,946 units.

The Motor Industry Assn. says car sales rose 2.9% to 5,798 units, while commercial-vehicle deliveries accelerated 38.4% to 2,148, the category’s best February since 1982.

“This result shows the new-vehicle market is consistent with levels of sales (before) the global financial crisis,” says David Crawford, the trade group’s new CEO.

CV deliveries were particularly pleasing, being only the fourth time since 1981 February exceeded 2,000 units, he says.

Toyota remained the market leader in February with 1,465 sales, followed by Ford (755) and Nissan (620). Toyota’s result included 926 cars, followed by Hyundai (541) and GM Holden (492).

New Zealand’s top-selling car for the month was the Toyota Corolla with 366 units, ahead of the Suzuki Swift (263) and Volkswagen Golf (144). The Toyota HiLux led the CV segment with 338, followed by the Ford Ranger (298) and Nissan Navara (235).