Toyota’s Reign Over Oz Market Unchallenged in September

Australia new-vehicle sales jumped 9.0% in September to 94,627 units, as Mazda moved into second place in sales, bumping GM Holden to third.

Toyota virtually wrapped up the annual sales title with 17,300 units for the month, but Mazda rose 10.5% year-on-year to 10,093 to pass GM Holden, down 18.7% to 8,955.

The sales growth was led by SUVs, up 20.7% to 25,079 units, followed by light- commercial vehicles, up 10.7% to 17,589; and passenger cars, up 3.2% to 49,210.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says a strong niche market is developing for alternative-fuel vehicles, with September car sales in the segment spiking 191.4% year-on-year to 3,371 units.

Overall, 9,461 hybrids have been sold since the beginning of 2012, up 54.0%.

The FCAI says government purchases continued to fall, down 17.4% for the month and 10.6% year-to-date, as deliveries of cars alone tumbled 31.2% in September.

The FCAI data shows the 9-month total up 9.4% to 822,674 vehicles. Cars registered a 1.4% uptick to 425,294 units, SUV deliveries rose 28.9% to 228,395 and LCVs climbed 8.6% to 146,534.

Sales of locally manufactured vehicles weakened, with the year-to-date result off 2.8% to 102,331 units.

The Mazda3 regained the model lead in September with 4,276 units, dropping the Toyota HiLux into second with 3,479. A newcomer to the top five, the Hyundai I30, was third at 3,144 units, ahead of the Toyota Corolla (3,133) and GM Holden Commodore (2,532).

Toyota has all but wrapped up its 10th consecutive year as Australia's best-selling brand with a practically insurmountable lead of 73,700 sales over its nearest rival, twice the margin it held at the same time last year.

Year-to-date, Toyota deliveries were up 21.1% to 159,111 units for a daily average of 580 deliveries, almost 270 a day more than second-place GM Holden.

Land Cruiser Prado deliveries jumped 56.5% to 13,239 units, well ahead of the 10,849 sold all of last year. Other Toyota models seeing significant sales increases compared with the first nine months of 2011 included the Tarago (34%), Kluger (32.2%), HiLux 4x4 (23%), Camry (22.9%) and RAV4 (22.7%).

Toyota has been Australia's best-selling brand 15 times – 1991-94, 1998 and 2000, before holding market leadership consistently since 2003. It has been the country’s top-selling marque for 88 of the past 90 months, a run broken only by production disruptions caused by last year's Japan tsunami.

Chris Beuth, national sales divisional manager-Toyota Australia, says the auto maker’s market dominance is the product of decades of hard work. “Toyota has developed an extensive lineup of locally built and imported vehicles, many of which have been leaders in their market segments over many years,” he says in a statement.

Segment-topping performances by the Mazda2, Mazda3 and CX-5 helped Mazda become the Australian auto industry’s first full-line importer to break the 10,000-unit sales mark in a month.

Mazda Australia has sold 77,862 vehicles year-to-date, up 18.1% and just 10,471 short of its 2011 full-year record with three months remaining.

Nissan Australia saw deliveries rise 5% year-on-year to a September-record 6,224 units as sales of the X-Trail compact SUV jumped 37% to almost 1,500. Nissan’s Australian fleet volumes increased 8% for the month to more than 2,000 for year-to-date sales growth of 36%.

Mitsubishi recorded its best September result as a pure importer, with sales climbing 21% to 5,802 units, prompting the auto maker to expand its 0.9% financing offer to more models.

Newcomer Opel Australia sold 174 units in its first month in the Down Under market. The Astra nameplate led the way with 100 deliveries (62 Astras and 38 GTCs), complemented by 30 Corsas and 44 Insignias.

“Introducing a new brand is a huge exercise, and to be able to record 174 units for our first month in the market is a very healthy start,” Nick Angelis, head of sales and aftersales-Opel Australia, says in a statement.

Opel’s launch in Australia was accompanied by an integrated marketing effort that included widespread outdoor and print campaigns, two television commercials and a competition hosted on Facebook.

“We’re looking forward to attending our first Australian Motor Show in Sydney later this month,” Angelis says. “We will have a 7-car stand and are excited to be revealing at the show a new addition to our lineup, set to arrive early next year.”

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, sales of new vehicles rose 14% to 8,690 units. Motor Industry Assn. data shows car sales increased 17% to 6,637 units for the best September result in four years.

The CV segment had its strongest September in five years with deliveries up 6% to 2,053 units. Toyota led with 1,744 sales, outpacing GM Holden (973) and Ford (925). The Japanese auto maker widened its lead after nine months to 14,703, well clear of Ford (8.405) and Holden (7,099).