VFACTS: Toyota, Holden get New Year hangover

AUSTRALIAN market leader Toyota’s December sales push had a predictable hangover last month when the Japanese giant experienced its lowest January sales in 13 years, official VFACTS figures show.

Registrations of Toyota’s locally made Camry plummeted from more than 5000 units in December to just 503 last month as Toyota dealerships dealt with the “pull-forward” effect of mass registrations in the run to the line last year.

Rival Holden suffered its worst sales month since last century, with registrations of its vehicles falling 18.8 per cent on the same month last year, to 6824 units.

Sales of Holden’s traditional best-seller, the Commodore, fell more than 30 per cent, to 1242 vehicles, in one of its poorest performances since the nameplate was introduced in 1978. For the first time in memory, the big sedan was out of the top 10.

While Toyota’s 12,453 sales tally was still good enough to secure top spot on the national sales ladder, it was down 8.8 per cent on the same month last year.

A bright spot for Toyota was its dominant SUV division, with the likes of the Prado (1094 units), RAV4 (1440) and new Fortuner (274) doing the business.

A rampant Mazda enjoyed an 11.2 per cent lift in sales, to a January record 10,016 vehicles, to not only close the gap on Toyota to just 2437 units for the month but also knock Toyota’s Corolla off the top perch as the best-selling car in the land.

The Mazda3 small car (3722 units) was the best seller, ahead of Corolla (2758) and Ford’s Ranger ute (2418).

Ranger was among a record four light trucks in the top 10, along with the Toyota HiLux (2341), Holden Colorado (1691) and Nissan Navara (1670), as LCVs started the year brightly with a 11.9 per cent lift on the same month last year.

The overall January new-vehicle market was up 2.7 per cent, to 84,373, with business buyers leading the growth in a reversal of the traditional trend of low fleet sales in the summer holidays.

Most of the leading Japanese and Korean importers made hay last month, with Hyundai grabbing third place behind Mazda with a company January record 7001 units (up 1.4 per cent).

Hyundai’s new Tucson SUV was the best-selling SUV in Australia, garnering 2065 sales, representing a year-on-year rise of 40 per cent over its predecessor, the ix35.

Despite an 18.8 per cent fall in January sales, Holden hung on to fourth spot.

For the first time, however, the Colorado ute (1691 sales) outsold Commodore.

Nissan clawed back into fifth place with 5504 sales for the month – a jump of 22.6 per cent – on the back of a healthy 60 per cent rise on sales of its Navara ute (1670 units).

Ford bounced along in sixth place, its 5504 sales represented a 2.7 per cent rise over the corresponding month last year.

Again, almost half of all Ford sales came from Ranger and its SUV sibling, the Everest, while the Blue Oval’s doomed local hero, the Falcon sedan, scraped along the bottom with a record low 235 sales.

Mitsubishi revved up its January sales to the tune of 22.7 per cent, to find new homes for 5007 vehicles. Its ASX was the top-selling small SUV, ahead of Mazda’s CX-3.

Kia was the biggest mover among the industry’s bigger companies, enjoying a 29 per cent sales rise, to 3116 units.

Just outside the top 10, Mercedes-Benz continued its power drive up the charts, selling a whopping 3099 cars and LCVs for the month. That represents a 19.5 per cent rise over January 2015.

Despite a slow month for its best-selling C-Class due to stock shortages (503), Mercedes still managed to out-selling its rivals in cars and SUVs (2862).

In the luxury car battle, Audi came in second behind Benz with 2142 sales (+11 per cent), ahead of BMW on 2075 vehicles (+20 per cent).

Top 10 selling brands January 2016

Brand	Sales	% Variation
Toyota	12,453	-8.8
Mazda	10,016	+11.2
Hyundai	7001	+1.4
Holden	6824	-18.8
Nissan	5563	+22.6
Ford	5504	+2.7
Mitsubishi	5007	+22.7
Volkswagen	4341	-1.3
Subaru	3405	+9.7
Kia	3116	+29.0

Top 10 selling models January 2016

Model	Sales	% Variation
Mazda3	3722	-4.6
Toyota Corolla	2758	-20.6
Ford Ranger	2418	+35.5
Toyota HiLux	2341	0.0
Hyundai Tucson	2065	+39.9
Hyundai i30	1852	-11.5
Mazda CX-5	1730	+3.0
Holden Colorado	1691	+9.0
Nissan Navara	1670	+60.5
Volkswagen Golf	1606	+4.4