SUV, Light-Commercial Sales Shore Up Oz May Result

Australian new-vehicle sales eased 1.3% in May to 93,327 units as three light-commercial vehicles ranked among the top five models to pull the segment into positive territory.

Despite the May slowdown, year-to-date sales were up 2.5% at 452,577 units.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says among LCVs the Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Triton and Ford Ranger were the three best-sellers.

The Hilux was the No.1 seller, down 4.2% year-on-year at 3,173 units, ahead of the Mazda3 (down 12.6% to 2,876), Toyota Corolla (down 30.6% to 2,688), Triton (up 19.0% to 2,683) and Ranger (up 4.1% to 2,411).

It was the 14th time the Hilux led the monthly sales charts.

LCVs bucked the downward trend in May, rising 1% to 17,156 units for a 5-month total up 3.6% at 78,926.

“LCVs were popular with government and business buyers in May, with sales to these buyer types up 5.9% and 2.7%, respectively,” Weber says in a statement. “While LCV sales to private buyers declined 2.6% compared to May 2014, private purchases of LCVs are up 11.2% year-to-date.”

SUV sales last month climbed 5.8% to 32,530 units, led by small SUVs, up 20.7% year-on-year to 8,996 units.

Weber says SUVs were popular among private buyers in particular, as they boosted May sales 10.1% year-over-year. Business and government purchases of SUVs remained steady.

After five months, SUV sales were up 13.5% at 157,415 units.

Car sales fell 7.3% year-on-year in May to 40,592 units as the segment slipped to 44% of the month’s market. There was one less selling day than in May 2014.

Year-to-date, new-car sales were off 5.0% at 204,366 units.

Toyota was the top-selling brand in May with 15,928 units (up 17.1%), ahead of Mazda, 8,717 (+9.3%), Hyundai, 8,269 (+8.9%), GM Holden 7,956 (+8.5%) and Mitsubishi 6,149 (+6.6%).

The Mazda3 was the most popular car model in May with 2,876 deliveries. The Toyota Corolla maintained its lead as Australia’s best-selling car in 2015 with a margin of almost 1,300 units.

Mazda continued its record ways in Australia with a new monthly benchmark in May – its third monthly record in a row – with 8,717 deliveries, passing the mark set for the month in 2012.

Year-to-date, Mazda was up 5.9% to a record 45,065 units for a 10% market share.

Volkswagen Australia sales rose 12.5% to a record 5,534 in May. Managing Director John White is confident VW’s strong product offering and stock availability will keep sales rooms humming.