SUVs Upend Cars for First Time in Australia Market

An historic changing of the guard in Australia as a trend everybody knew was coming saw sales of SUVs overtake cars for the first time.

SUV deliveries fell 3.7% to 35,497 units in February, but the segment still garnered a leading 39.9% market share. Cars slumped 12.2% to 34,740 units for a 39.0% stake and light-commercial deliveries slipped 5.6% to 16,512 units and an 18.5% share.

All this left the February result down 7.7% at 85,029 units.

With two months under its belt, the Australian market is off 3.8% from year-ago with a volume of 173,935 vehicles.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO Tony Weber says the rise of the SUV is part of an evolution that has been occurring over several years.

“The steady, demonstrable shift in consumer preference, which has been occurring in the past few years, has culminated in this February outcome,” Weber says in a statement.

“Of course, this one monthly outcome doesn’t signal a landslide, but clearly Australian buyers are attracted by the features and capabilities of new-generation SUVs, and how these types of vehicles suit their needs and lifestyles.”

Weber says the overall 7,418-unit year-on-year drop in February sales at first glance is misleading.

“It’s important to look at sales results in the proper context because February 2016 was an unusually strong month,” he says. “It included one extra selling day and saw a lot of activity in the market. This resulted in a 6.7% surge over February 2015.”

Two SUV segments bucked the sales slump. Upper Large SUV deliveries rose 19.6% and Medium SUVs edged up 1.1%. Sales in the Small SUV sector fell 11% and Large SUVs declined 5.7%.

The Toyota Corolla was February’s best-selling model, down 1.8% to 3,392 units, ahead of the Toyota Hilux, up 3.8% (3,386); Mazda3, off 6.3% (3,143); Ford Ranger, up 10.4% (2,931); and Hyundai i30, down 18.6% (2,003).

Toyota led the February market with 16,308 units for an 18.3% market share. Mazda was a distant second with 9,923 units, ahead of Hyundai (7,001), Mitsubishi (5,758) and GM Holden (7,724).

Despite the February performance, the car segment clings to its title as the industry’s biggest after two months, with sales down 6.8% to 69,660 units.

But the SUVs are sure to overtake the sector in March, as their year-to-date count of 69,624 units was just 36 units behind at the end of last month.