Oz LV Sales Top 1 Million for Fourth Straight Year

Australian new-vehicle sales topped 1 million for the fourth straight year in 2015 and the industry is predicting the figure will be reached again this year.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says 1,155,408 million units were sold last year, up 3.8% year-on-year and beating the previous mark of 1,136,227 set in 2013.

The car segment fell 3.0% to 515,683 units, while the SUV market jumped 15.9% to 408,471. Light-commercial-vehicle deliveries rose 0.1% to 199,070 units.

SUVs for the first time outsold the small-car segment, which had sales of 355,793.

The year ended strongly with sales rising 3% in December to 99,616 units.

FCAI CEO Tony Weber says the addition of new models with significant performance and comfort attributes, combined with the existing vehicle mix, continue to make Australia one of the world’s most competitive new-car markets.

“The high level of choice in the Australian new-car market is delivering Australian consumers’ access to high-quality vehicles at record affordability levels,” Weber says in a statement.

Weber says SUV sales now account for about 35.4% of the market, up from 31.7% a year ago. Cars remain the largest segment with 44.6%, and LCVs slipped a little, from 17.8% to 17.2%.

Private sales rose 3.7% year-on-year, while business sales rose 4.9% and government purchases dropped 1.4%.

At a news conference at Toyota headquarters carried by the Internet, Weber says he expects 2016 sales will reach 1.1 million units.

Toyota was Australia’s top-selling brand for the 13^th straight year with sales up 1.3% to 206,236 units for 17.8% of the market. It was followed by Mazda with 114,024 (9.9%); GM Holden, 102,951 (8.9%); Hyundai, 102,004 (8.8%); Mitsubishi, 71,743 (6.2%); and Ford, 70,454 (6.1%).

Corolla Keeps Toyota Atop Sales Charts

The Toyota Corolla topped the sales chart for the third year in a row with 42,073 deliveries, followed by the Mazda3 (38,644), Toyota Hilux (35,161), Hyundai i30 (32,306) and Ford Ranger (29,185).

Ford and Holden were the only two among the Top 10 brands to post sales declines in the record market.

Toyota strongly finished a hectic year in which it refreshed or replaced models accounting for 70% of its volume, selling a December-record 21,217 units last month. The locally built Camry was the national best-seller for the month with 5,321 units.

Mazda topped the 100,000-unit mark for the fourth straight year as its record 114,024 deliveries moved it into second place in annual sales for the first time. The result beat its previous best of 103,886 units set in 2012.

With overall sales up 13.2%, Mazda2 led the light-car segment for the third year in a row. The Mazda CX-5, Australia’s most popular SUV, heading the medium SUV segment.

Mitsubishi also achieved its highest December sales as a pure importer with 7,500 deliveries, pushing the monthly result up 93.2% year-on-year.

This gave Mitsubishi its best-ever annual import result in 2015 with 71,743 units and a 6.2% market share.

Honda’s 40,100 deliveries made 2015 the brand’s best result in five years.

A 20% jump in annual sales drove Kia Australia into record territory, finishing 2015 with 33,736 units. Its previous best mark was 30,758 units in 2012.

Renault Australia finished 2015 on a high, up 15% to 11,525 units, the fifth consecutive year of strong growth in Australia. The French automaker’s CV range remained a strength of the brand in Australia, representing 33% of its total sales.

Audi Australia saw an 11^th consecutive year of record growth as sales rose 20.1% to 23,088, driven by a record December, up 27.6% to 1,988 units. The Volkswagen-owned luxury brand’s most successful model line was the A3 range with 6,275 deliveries.