VFACTS: Baby SUVs drive February record sales

BOOMING SUV sales last month drove Australia’s new-vehicle volumes to a February record 90,424 units, with mid-sized importers cashing in at the expense of long-time manufacturers Ford and Holden, according to official VFACTS data released today.

The biggest growth was at the baby end of the SUV segment where small crossover vehicle sales soared a whopping 52 per cent, helping overall SUV sales to a 23.8 per cent gain on February 2014.

February’s industry result pipped 2013’s February sales of 90,218, placing the market on track for a record year.

Ford slumped to seventh on the sales ladder after it notched just 5022 sales last month – down 20.1 per cent on the same month last year – while Holden dipped from its regular second spot to fourth, with 7809 sales, down 10.2 per cent.

Fellow Australian manufacturer Toyota was solid in the number one position, edging up 0.3 per cent to 16,243 vehicles, representing an 18 per cent market share.

Toyota says it is enjoying it best start to a year since 2010, with its big guns such as Corolla and HiLux both sitting in the top three.

Toyota’s Corolla was again the showroom champion, finding 3939 new owners – up 18.2 per cent – to hold out its arch rival, the Mazda 3 (3598, -9.3%).

From top: Toyota Corolla, Honda HR-V, Mitsubishi ASX.

Despite a slight slip in sales volumes, Mazda held down second spot on the February manufacturer sales ladder with 9057 vehicles – down 1.2 per cent – with Hyundai in third position on 8003 vehicles, up 2.6 per cent.

Mitsubishi, whose ASX small SUV made a huge 154 per cent sales gain compared with a year ago, grabbed fifth spot with 6242 sales (+33.3 per cent) in its best February since it closed its local manufacturing plant in March 2008.

Nissan shook off its malaise of a year ago to 5984 vehicles, up 34.2 per cent.

Boosted by the introduction of its new Thai-built HR-V small SUV, Honda was back in the top 10 with 2901 units, a gain of 9.0 per cent.

Hyundai’s ix35 was the best-selling light SUV, with 1856 sales – up 24.5 per cent – and a mega 22 per cent share of the segment.

Mitsubishi almost tripled sales of its ASX small SUV for the month, pushing 1451 units out of the showroom for a 154 per cent gain.

From a standing start just a few years ago, the small SUV segment is fast approaching the volumes of the medium and large SUV classes that have long been the dominant categories in high-riding wagons.

However, the medium category again produced the top-selling SUV model, Mazda’s CX-5, on 2085 units, up 19 per cent.

Nissan X-Trail sales exploded in February, with a 182 per cent jump in volume to 1742 vehicles, making it number two in the medium class for the month.

Despite massive advertising campaigns in February, both Holden and Ford went backwards.

In Ford’s case, the Focus small car dipped 50.6 per cent, to 670 vehicles, while the new Kuga stumbled 52.8 per cent, to 240 vehicles.

The locally made Falcon’s 501 sales represent a drop of 8.7 per cent on February last year, but at least it was above January’s disastrous 381 units.

However, the locally-designed Ford Ranger ute remained strong, recording 1953 sales (+2.7 per cent), to become the third-best-selling light truck behind the Toyota HiLux and Mitsubishi Triton.

Holden’s locally made Commodore and Cruze dived 9.4 and 22.6 per cent respectively, to 2517 and 1109 sales, but the Barina small hatchback was a bright spot, up 18.3 per cent to 550.

Year to date, the Australian market is running 2.0 per cent higher than last year, with 172,540 sales after two months.

Passenger car sales have softened by 5.5 per cent, but the loss has been more than made up by a 15.4 per cent gain in SUVs and 1.3 per cent lift in light commercials.

Top selling brands February 2015

Brand	Sales	Variance %
Toyota	16,243	+0.3
Mazda	9057	-1.2
Hyundai	8003	+2.6
Holden	7809	-10.2
Mitsubishi	6242	+33.3
Nissan	5984	+34.2
Ford	5022	-20.1
Volkswagen	4889	+11.7
Subaru	3223	+3.3
Honda	2901	+9.0

Top 10 selling models February 2015

Model	Sales
Toyota Corolla	3939
Mazda3	3598
Toyota HiLux	2861
Holden Commodore	2517
Hyundai i30	2126
Mazda CX-5	2085
Mitsubishi Triton	1988
Ford Ranger	1953
Hyundai ix35	1856
Toyota Camry	1767