Australian LV Market Momentum Yields Record March

Australian light-vehicle sales squeezed out a March record, with volume rising 0.9% year-on-year to 105,410 units.

The result showed the industry’s resiliency as it battled back from a slow start to the year – down 2.1% in the first quarter at 279,345 units.

Light-commercial vehicles and SUVs drove the March result and together accounted for 60.3% of all sales.

SUV deliveries climbed 7.9% from last year’s record March to 41,484 units for a 3-month total ahead 2.5% at 111,108, good for a 39.4% market share.

LCVs rose 11.3% for the month to 21,992 units for a 20.9% market share and a first-quarter result up 1.3% at 52,446.

Three pickups were among the top five sellers in March: the Toyota HiLux, No.1 with 4,245 deliveries, followed by the Ford Ranger (3,845). The Mitsubishi Triton was fifth at 2,670 units.

The Toyota Corolla was third with 3,574 units and the Mazda3 was fourth with 3,039.

The car segment continued its slow decline, dropping 10.7% in March to 38,972 units for a first-quarter total down 10.7% at 108,632.

Toyota remained the industry leader in March with 19,652 deliveries for an 18.6% share of the market, followed by Mazda with 10,472 (9.9%), Hyundai 8,700 (8.3%), Mitsubishi 7,583 (7.2%) and GM Holden 7,211 (6.8%).

Toyota’s HiLux was the only vehicle in Australia’s highly fragmented new-vehicle market to top 10,000 sales in the first quarter with 10,333 units. Its Corolla brandmate was next with 9,909. The result gave Toyota its strongest March since 2010, up 10.1% year-on-year.

Mazda set a Japanese financial-year benchmark after a record March and a first quarter.

For the financial year ended March 31, Mazda sold a record 118,230 units, bettering the old mark of 116,193 set a year ago.

Its first-quarter 30,462 deliveries gave it a 10.9% slice of the Australian market.

The Mazda3 was the brand’s best-selling vehicle in March with 3,039 units.

Mitsubishi also set a March record with 7,583 units, reflecting strong demand across its SUV and LCV range with deliveries of 1,384 ASXs, 1,609 Outlanders, 975 Pajero Sports and 2,670 Tritons.

Subaru Australia sales rose 3.8% in March to 5,006 units, boosted by the new-generation Impreza, up 79.7% at 1,168 units. Subaru outperformed the market in the first quarter, up 8.4% at 12,761 units.

Infiniti Australia, with year-to-date sales of Nissan’s luxury brand up 49.3% at 285 units, is transferring Managing Director Jean-Philippe Roux to Paris as chief marketing manager for Russian-market products at Nissan Europe.

He will be succeeded by Chang-Hwan Lee, who moves from Infiniti Korea.