Australian LV Market Grows in January on SUV Power

The Australian new-car market built on its record 2016 in January, as sales edged up 0.6% to 84,910 units.

“We’re pleased to see a modest gain, with private buyers active in the market and taking advantage of the offers out there from the brands,” Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says. “It’s a very good indicator for the year to come. We are confident that given unchanged economic conditions, the market will remain buoyant.”

Deliveries of light-commercial vehicles fell 3.9% from year-ago to 13,949 units and car sales slipped 0.8% to 34,920, but the surging SUV segment offset those losses, gaining 3.2% to 34,127.

SUVs account for 40.2% of the Australian market, compared with cars’ 41.1% share. Within the SUV segment, medium-sized models were the most popular in January, up 8.6% year-on-year to 13,956 units – seven more than the month’s LCV total.

Toyota, which announced it will end local production Oct. 3, easily retained its title as brand leader in January with an 0.8% uptick to 12,554 units, good for a 14.8% market share. Mazda was second with 10,067 deliveries for an 11.9% share, followed by GM Holden (7,184 sales, 8.5% share), Hyundai (6,705 sales, 7.9% share) and Ford (5,912 sales, 7.0% share).

The Mazda3 was Australia’s best-selling model last month despite a 6.7% year-on-year drop to 3,473 units, ahead of the Toyota Corolla, up 6.7% at 2,943; Toyota HiLux, up 15.4% at 2,702; Ford Ranger, up 8.4% at 2,622; and Hyundai i30, up 9.0% at 2,018.

The GM Holden Commodore, in its last hurrah before local production ends later this year, jumped 57.8% to 1,960 units for sixth place.

The January results showed Toyota’s in-house rivalry for sales supremacy between the HiLux pickup and Corolla sedan is continuing. The HiLux was Australia’s best-selling light-vehicle in 2016, topping the Corolla by 226 units.

Mazda was fast out of the gate with a record January result, up 0.5% to 10,607 units for a highest-ever market share of 11.9%.