Oz Sales Hit Record, But Domestic Models Suffer

Australians bought a record 1,136,227 cars in 2013, but underscoring why Ford and GM Holden decided to quit local manufacturing, just 10.4%, or a record-low 118,510 units, were domestically built.

The result, up 2.2% from the old mark of 1,112,032 units set in 2012, represented the fourth year running and the sixth time overall Australians have purchased more than 1 million new vehicles in a calendar year.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says the most popular choice was the Toyota Corolla, with 43,498 units, finishing ahead of the Mazda3 (42,082), Toyota HiLux (39,931) Hyundai i30 (30,582) and locally built Holden Commodore (27,766).

Toyota retained the title of top-selling brand for the 11^th straight year and increased its lead, despite volume falling 1.6% to 214,630 units (for an 18.9% share). GM Holden also declined, by 2.3% to 112,059 units (9.9%), and Mazda slipped 0.7% to 103,144 units (9.1).

Hyundai sales rose 6.0% to 97,006 (8.5% share), while Ford volume declined 3.5% to 87,236 units (7.7%).

Ford is to shutter its manufacturing operations in 2016, while GM Holden will follow suit in 2017.

Melbourne’s The Age newspaper reports Japan was the major source for imports with 362,058 units, followed by free-trade partner Thailand (228,479), South Korea (134,953), Germany (75,883), U.S. (35,916), U.K. (35,106), India (19,794), Czech Republic (19,232) and Spain (16,300).

The year ended with December sales up 2.2% to 96,756 units, despite a 5.6% drop in car deliveries to 47,686 units. SUV sales jumped 11.3% to 28,543 and LCV volume climbed 8.3% to 17,809 units.

FCAI CEO Tony Weber says trends in 2013 included the strong growth of the small-SUV market and the significant increase in private-buyer purchases of light-commercial vehicles.

“Passenger cars remained the largest-selling category in 2013 with 49.9% of the market,” Weber says in a statement. “However, this is a slight decrease compared to 2012, where passenger cars held 51.7% of the market.”

The SUV segment increased its share to 29.4% from a prior-year 27.6%, with deliveries up 8.5% to 333,511 units, while the LCV sector rose 3.5% to 204,566 to give it an 18% slice of the market, up from 17.8% in 2012.

The changing demographics mean SUV and LCV sales were at record levels, while the car segment for the first time accounted for less than half the Australian market.

The FCAI says government purchases fell “a significant” 20.2%, or 10,291 units, last year and business purchases dipped 1.1%. Offsetting this, private sales jumped 8.1%, including a 37.2% rise in private purchases of LCVs.

Putting a positive spin on a dismal year for local production, the FCAI says the Australian-made Holden Commodore, Toyota Camry and Holden Cruze all made the top-10 list, while the Ford Falcon edged into the top 20.

Despite its more than decade-long market dominance, Toyota claimed the country's top-selling-model title for the first time with its Corolla. For the 20^th year in a row, the locally built Camry was Australia’s best-selling midsize car, despite falling 9% to 24,860 units.

“Corolla takes the title of Australia's best-selling car with local motorists buying well over 1.25 million Corollas in a period spanning almost half a century,” Toyota Australia Sales and Marketing Executive Director Tony Cramb says in a statement.

“In Camry, we have a car that has been built in Australia, by Australians, for Australians since 1987 and has been the best seller in its class since 1994 – and last year outsold its nearest competitor by more than 17,000 sales.”

Toyota produced 106,000 vehicles in Australia last year and remained the country's leading automotive exporter with more than 74,000 shipped overseas, primarily to the Middle East.

The HiLux was Australia's best-selling light-commercial, as Toyota notched its 35th year running as the market leader in commercial-vehicle sales.

Cramb says Toyota expects economic and market conditions this year to produce continued strong sales.

“Toyota is targeting in excess of 200,000 sales for the 10th time, and we expect another solid result for the industry with more than 1 million sales for the seventh time,” he says.

Mazda, for a second-consecutive year, hit six figures, with sales reaching 103,144 units as the Mazda3 just missed out on being the top-selling car. For the second time in three years, the Mazda2 was the top-selling light car, with 15,167 units.

Mitsubishi Australia boosted sales 21.5% year-on-year to 71,528 units, an import sales record for the brand.

Subaru volume rose 18.4% to a record 40,200 units, finishing the year with December deliveries up 22.2% to 3,660 units. Best-sellers for Subaru in 2013 were the Forester, up 18.3% to 13,649 units, and the XV, up 8.6% to 10,764.

Fiat Chrysler saw sales soar 43% to 33,968 units. Jeep rose 23% to 22,170 units, the first time the brand exceeded the 20,000 mark. Alfa Romeo had its best year since 2002 with deliveries up 152% to 2,373 units.

Mercedes-Benz laid claim to being the most successful luxury brand in Australian automotive history.

“With close to 30% growth in comparison to 2012, our full year result of 23,106 units is a new record for our brand’s 55 year history in Australia,” Mercedes Australia Managing Director Horst von Sanden says in a statement. “We became the first luxury brand to pass 20,000 units a year in November 2013.”

Renault boosted deliveries 40% to a record 7,016 vehicles. Its LCV range soared 89% to 2,299 units in what it calls a significant milestone for the brand. The Renault Trafic jumped 160% to 1,125 units.