Oz Sales Up 5% in First Quarter; March Result Flat

Australian new-vehicle sales dropped marginally in March to 97,400 units, down 0.2% or 216 less than year-ago’s 97,616.

But the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says first-quarter sales increased 5% to 273,048 units.

Small entrants continued dominating the new car-segment in March, with 4-cyl. models accounting for three of the five best-sellers.

The Mazda3 again led overall sales with 3,786 units, ahead of the Toyota Corolla (3,512), Toyota Hilux (3,127), Hyundai i30 (2,595) and Nissan Navara (2,499).

Small cars and light-commercial vehicles represented eight of the month’s top-10 sellers.

Small-SUV deliveries jumped 41.3% in March to 7,541 units. As a result, the car segment continued its decline as a percentage of total sales, down to 49.1% from 53.7% year-ago.

Private purchases of diesel-powered LCVs continued showing strong growth, with sales surging 77.8% to 6,263 units compared with year-ago.

Car sales fell 4.8% to 48,664 units for a first-quarter total down 4.0% to 133,959. SUV deliveries rose 6.3% to 29,148 for a 3-month result up 13.0% to 82,605. A 2.5% improvement to 16,960 in March left LCVs’ first-quarter tally up 21.4% to 49,642.

The FCAI says purchases by government departments and authorities continued their slide, with year-to-date sales down 30.1% from like-2012.

The total market might have cooled last month but Toyota didn’t, recording its strongest March and first-quarter sales in three years.

Its 18,653 deliveries last month were up 1% year-on-year and more than 1,000 units ahead of the combined totals of its two closest rivals.

Toyota’s 48,405 sales in the first quarter gave it a 21,293-unit lead over its nearest competitor. So far this year, the auto maker has sold nearly 80% more vehicles than any other brand, a record first-quarter advantage for Toyota.

Last month’s 1,916 sales of the locally built Camry were more than four times higher than any other car in its segment.

Matthew Callachor, sales and marketing executive director-Toyota Australia, credits resilient buyer demand to low interest rates, attractive marketing offers and generally favorable economic conditions.

“We are aiming to sell more than 200,000 Toyota vehicles in 2013, helping to drive the entire industry to a fourth consecutive year in excess of 1 million sales,” Callachor says in a statement.

Toyota also saw solid export figures last month, shipping 7,383 units for its second-highest monthly result of the 2012-2013 financial year.

About 97% went to the Gulf Cooperation Council comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The rest were shipped to New Zealand, Yemen and the South Pacific islands.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Buttner says the export program is a significant part of Toyota Australia’s business strategy. “The competitiveness of our export program would be enhanced if an Australia-(Gulf Cooperation Council) free-trade agreement could be reached.”

Exports account for about 70% of Toyota Australia's local production.

March saw Mazda post its best monthly sales figure of the year with 9,112 units, and hold second place in the Australian market with year-to-date deliveries up 0.9% to 26,752. The Japanese auto maker claims a record 9.3% share of the Australian market.

The result means Mazda Australia Managing Director Doug Dickson will be leaving on a high note. The parent company in Japan says Dickson is retiring after 35 years with Mazda Australia, including nine as managing director.

Dickson will be replaced May 1 by Martin Benders, who joined Mazda in 1987 in the Queensland state office before becoming Victoria state manager in 1990 and marketing manager in 1997.

A decade later, the auto maker named Dickson head of global product marketing. Most recently, he has been sales vice president for Mazda Europe.

Nissan notched its 11th consecutive monthly sales record in March with 8,327 units sold.

Record sales of Subaru's XV All-Wheel Drive boosted the brand's monthly total to a new high of 4,219 units in March, passing the previous mark of 4,116 set in June 2008. The XV alone saw sales jump 56.4% year-on-year to 1,567.

“We're delighted to establish a new record in a month when overall industry sales actually declined 0.2%,” Managing Director Nick Senior says.