Toyota Takes Back Oz Sales Lead in July

Australia’s new-vehicle sales slipped 1.7% to 80,991 units in July in the face of consumer uncertainty and continuing supply shortages after Japan’s March earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota Camry best-selling car in segment.

Toyota reclaimed market leadership in the month, with 12,980 deliveries, ahead of GM Holden with 10,819 and Ford with 7,769.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says July sales left the industry’s year-to-date total at 577,227 units.

“While the drop in sales in July is small compared to the same month last year, the overall drop in sales for the year to date of 5.9% indicates consumers are continuing to delay new vehicle purchases,” FCAI Acting CEO Steve Payne says in a statement.

Payne, a 30-year civil servant, stepped in when former CEO Andrew McKellar resigned to join the Australian Automobile Assn. and will stay until a permanent appointment is made.

“The supply of vehicles and components from Japan, following the earthquake and tsunami in March, has improved. However, sales of several popular models were still affected by supply constraints,” Payne says.

New car sales fell 4.0% for the month to 45,701 units, dragging the 7-month total down 8.0% to 323,179. SUV deliveries rose 1.8% to 19,383 in July, but were down 2.9% year-to-date to 134,298.

Light-commercial vehicle sales eased 1.7% for the month to 13,463 units, dropping 2.9% in the first seven months to 104,213.

The FCAI predicts deliveries will return to long-term trends as Japanese supply constraints ease. “We expect annual sales to be around 1 million vehicles for 2011,” Payne says.

Toyota, bouncing back faster than it expected from production disruptions, extended its overall lead as Australia's top-selling auto maker. The July result pushed its total above 98,000 deliveries for the year, giving it an overall lead in excess of 24,700 units.

Five Toyota vehicles – the Camry, LandCruiser 200 Series, HiLux 4x2, HiLux 4x4 and HiAce bus – were the best-selling vehicles in their segments last month.

David Buttner, Toyota Australia's sales and marketing senior executive director, says dealers will have a strong availability of stock for the rest of the year. “We have more than 20,000 vehicles arriving in both August and September.”

GM Holden had two of the four best-selling models for the month. The Commodore delivered 3,551 units for a 53.2% share of the large-car segment, ahead of the Mazda3 (3,290), Toyota HiLux (3,147) and locally built Holden Cruze (3,123).

The auto maker delivered 73,389 units through the first seven months for a 12.7% market share. “We plan to build on this momentum in the second half of the year, as we continue to roll out new models across the Holden range,” GM Holden Sales Director Philip Brook says in a statement.

Mazda Australia describes its July deliveries of 6,984 units as a solid performance, with segment-topping sales from the Mazda2 and Mazda3.