Oz Full-Year LV Sales Pass 1 Million in November

Australian new-vehicle sales edged up 0.3% in November to 98,937 units, enough to maintain the industry’s momentum toward a record calendar year.

The November result pushed the industry volumes into seven figures, with the year-to-date total up 2.2% at 1,079,370 units.

The car segment, with November sales off 4.5% year-over-year at 39,582 units, held a 40.3% share of the total market, but the SUV segment, up 4.1% at 37,539, narrowed the gap further, gaining 1.4 percentage points to hold a 37.9% market share.

The light-commercial-vehicle segment rose 3.3% to 18,592 units for an 18.8% share of the market.

After 11 months, the car segment was down 5.9% at 443,872 units, while the SUV segment rose 8.9% to 406,081 and LCVs climbed 9.5% to 199,372.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says the strong gain in LCV sales shows how the role of these vehicles has changed over time.

“Private buyers are increasingly using these dual-cab utilities as a weekday workhorse and a weekend recreational vehicle,” Weber says in a statement.

The Toyota HiLux was last month’s best-selling model with 3,839 units, ahead of the Ford Ranger (3,410), Toyota Corolla (3,245), Toyota Camry (2,957) and Mazda3 (2,877).

As usual, Toyota was the No.1 nameplate in November with 18,162 deliveries for an 18.4% market share. Mazda followed with a record 9,825 sales, ahead of Hyundai (7,991), GM Holden (7,750) and Ford (6,827).

Toyota was the clear market leader, up 2.5% at 189,685 units for a 17.6% share. Mazda, up 4.0% at 108,446 units, was ahead of Hyundai, down 0.4% at 94,503, GM Holden, down 7.7% at 86,583 and Ford, up 16.5% at 74,741.

The race to decide Australia’s best-selling car for 2016 was too close to call after 11 months, with the HiLux holding a 615-unit lead over stablemate Corolla.

HiLux sales last month of 3,839 vehicles lifted its 2016 tally to an industry-leading 38,018 deliveries while Corolla was right behind with 37,403. No other vehicle has reached 35,000 sales.

If the HiLux, sold in Australia for 45 years, comes out on top at year’s end, it will be the first time a pickup has become Australia’s best-selling light vehicle. The Corolla has held the title for the previous three years.

Meantime, sales of Mazda SUVs and cars nearly matched in November. Mazda sold 4,280 SUVs and 4,351 cars for a rounded 50/50 sales split; year-to-date figures showed cars with 54% and SUVs taking 46%.

Mazda clinched a full-year sales record this year – topping its 2015 benchmark of 114,024 – after the automaker last month placed every SUV and car in its range in the top three of their respective segments. The Mazda CX-5 was Australia’s best-selling SUV.

Honda Australia, with year-to-date sales down 0.5% to 36,610 units, is planning a major sales drive for 2017 with one of its busiest launch years ever.

Honda Australia director Stephen Collins says the arrival of the Civic Hatch, Civic Type R and all-new CR-V in 2017 will entice customers across several segments.

Volkswagen sales were up 9.5% to 4,862 in November but were down 6.7% through 11 months. The automaker remains impacted by the Dieselgate scandal, saying the Australian government has approved the recall of another 61,000 units. That raises the countrywide recall to 70,000 vehicles for changes to the software that manages the engine.