Mazda Pushes Past GM Holden for Second Place in April Sales

Japanese import-brand Mazda shakes up the Australian auto industry by pushing GM Holden into third place in April sales.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures show Toyota as the overall sales leader for the month with 16,568 units, followed by Mazda with 7,681 and GM Holden with 7,589.

Total deliveries rose 6.6% to 79,097 units in April, pushing the year-to-date total up 5.1% to 339,219.

The record April result gave Mazda a 21% gain on year-ago and a 9.7% market share.

The auto maker saw strong demand across its range, with the Mazda3, imported from Thailand, consolidating its position as the top seller with 3,005 units. The model led the market by more than 2,500 units through the first four months, up 2.8% from prior-year.

The Mazda2 saw 1,305 deliveries, to lead the light segment with a 7.7% year-to-date increase. Mazda6 sales jumped 19.8% in the period to 2,248.

GM Holden was stung by a shortage of critical models in April, including the new Colorado pickup and next-generation Barina passenger car.

Colorado production was hit by the massive floods in Thailand as the plant was changing over to the new model, and the auto maker has not been able to get enough Korean-made Barinas to meet demand.

GM Holden still was able to carve out a 9.6% share in April, and sales through the first four months of 36,534 units represented a 10.8% share.

John Elsworth, GM Holden executive director-sales, marketing and aftersales, says locally produced models were the highest-selling products last month, accounting for 70.3% of its April sales.

The Cruze was Australia’s fourth best-selling car with 2,315 units, while Commodore took more than 50% of the large-car segment with 2,248, making it April’s 5th best-selling car.

GM Holden expects the supply of imported vehicles to improve in the second half.

“The light-commercial segment is a key market for Holden, and (the) Colorado has been traditionally one of our most important models,” Elsworth says in a statement. “We’ve had a very successful run-out, with only a handful of cars available in March and April.”

The auto maker has a significant number of customer pre-orders ahead of the pickup’s June launch. An increase of supply of the new-generation Barina hatch and sedan is expected midyear.

“Overall with these stock shortages, April was a tough month for Holden, but we’re confident we’ll report stronger results in line with demand in the months to come,” Elsworth says.

Australia’s best-selling light vehicle in April was the Toyota HiLux pickup with 3,565 units, marking a return to normal supplies of the popular workhorse following shortages caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.

It is the sixth time the HiLux has been the top-selling vehicle in Australia, and it is the only pickup to have achieved this landmark. Strong demand for the HiLux helped Toyota cement its market leadership in April with 16,568 deliveries, more than 8,800 units ahead of its nearest rival.

Year-to-date, Toyota sold 63,945 vehicles, for an overall lead of more than 27,000 units. The auto maker has been the market leader for 83 of the past 85 months in a run broken only by production disruptions caused by last year's tsunami in Japan.

FCAI CEO Ian Chalmers says the VFACTS data shows a growing consumer preference for diesel-powered SUVs, as the segment continues its strong market push.

“Yet again, SUVs dominate the Australian vehicle market, with sales increasing for all sizes of SUVs in the private, business and rental sectors,” he says in a statement.

Private sales for diesel SUVs in April surged 56.0% to 1,530 units, compared with year-ago, and jumped 47.9% to 5,485 through the first four months. Similarly, non-private deliveries grew 47.5% to 1,507 in the month and 39.3% to 5,588 year-to-date.

New-car sales fell 2.5% in April to 40,496 units, leaving the 4-month total down 0.2% to 180,231. Large-car deliveries tumbled 23.9% for the month to 4,455 and were down 21.8% to 20,010 year-to-date.

Sales of medium cars continued to show strength last month, up 14.6% to 26,875 units, compared with year-ago. Sports cars made a healthy showing, soaring 53.6% albeit to 1,542 in April and climbing 36.1% to 6,339 through the first four months.