Utes Leave Cars in Dust as Oz Sales Grow in February

Utility-vehicle-minded buyers crowded into Australian showrooms to boost deliveries to a February-record 90,424 units, a 4.2% year-on-year improvement.

A 23.8% spike in SUV deliveries offset a 6.6% drop in the car segment, raising year-to-date sales 2% to 172,540 units.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says Australian consumers are continuing to move toward SUVs and light-commercial vehicles, which accounted for 53% of February volume.

Small SUVs led that segment’s growth, as deliveries surged 52% to 9,233 units with the most popular choices being the Hyundai ix35 (1,856), Mitsubishi ASX (1,451) and Nissan Qashqai (1,126).

Medium SUVs climbed 14% to 10,507 units and large SUVs climbed 18.7% to 11,330.

Light CV sales rose 2.7% to 15,496 units, led by the Toyota Hilux (2,861), Mitsubishi Triton (1,988) and Ford Ranger (1,953).

The backsliding car segment saw February deliveries totaling 40,775 units, with more than 46% of sales posted by small models led by the Toyota Corolla (3,939), Mazda3 (3,598) and Hyundai i30 (2,126).

New-vehicle sales to private buyers rose 6.1% from like-2014, the result of a 24.3% climb in SUV purchases and an 8.4% improvement by LCVs that countered a 5.9% slip in car deliveries.

Business purchases fell 3% for the month while government purchases remained flat.

Toyota again was Australia’s top-selling brand in February with 29,904 units for an 18% market share. Mazda followed with 18,063 units, ahead of Hyundai (16,210), GM Holden (16,210), Nissan (10,521) and Ford (10,379).

The Toyota Corolla was the top-selling light vehicle in February, up 18.2% year-on-year to 3,939 units, ahead of the Mazda3 (3,598), Toyota Hilux (2,861), Holden Commodore (2,517) and Hyundai i30 (2,126).

Toyota, the overall market leader in Australia for 18 of the past 24 years, put in its strongest new-year sales performance in five years, posting two consecutive months of year-on-year increases buoyed by healthy demand for Corolla.

With local production set to end in 2017, Toyota Australia National Marketing Divisional Manager Brad Cramb says the automaker is implementing far-reaching initiatives that will build on its position as the country’s No.1 brand.

“Our ability to widen the overall sales margin has been achieved in the face of increased competition from a growing number of brands and a proliferation of new models, many of which are directly targeted at Toyota,” Cramb says in a statement.

Mazda maintained its position as the leading full-line importer as its 9,057 February deliveries raised its 2-month total to 18,063 for a 10.5% market share. The Mazda3, all-new Mazda2 and new Mazda CX-5 led their respective sales segments.

Volkswagen recorded a second record month of sales with its February result up 11.7% to 4,889 units for a 2-month total ahead 10.2% at 9,286.

Subaru sold 3,223 units in February as its new-generation all-wheel-drive Outback soared 261.8% to set a monthly sales record of 890 units, easily passing the old mark of 829 set in 2006.

“It's a credit to the engineers, designers, product planners and the overseas sales team,” he says in a statement. “They went back to Japan and developed an Outback that is designed for Australian conditions, lifestyle and taste.”