Australia is moving away from the micro car segment and continues to buy more SUV’s and Toyota Corolla’s according to the latest VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
The latest figures show that sales of SUV’s increased by 4.1% in July while passenger car sales fell 4.6%. In total, Australians purchased 89,867 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles—only 0.4% or 368 cars less than the largest July on record, which was in 2013.
SUV sales were spearheaded by Hyundai’s ix35 (pictured) as it continues to be the number one selling vehicle in the competitive small SUV under $40k segment with 1380 units sold in July, achieving a 20.8% segment share. This is the 18th consecutive month the ix35 has led this segment.
Mazda’s CX-5, is the country’s most popular medium SUV notching up a July record as it approaches 13,000 YTD sales. Meanwhile, the Jeep Grand Cherokee was the top selling large SUV in July with sales of over 10,000 this year.
FCAI chief Tony Weber says SUVs continue to rise in popularity, with sales in the segment up 12.7% on July 2013 figures; and year-to-date figures up 4.1%.
“In particular, small SUV sales increased 34.8%, compared to sales in July 2013. Medium SUV sales were up 6.5% and large SUV sales were up 8.8%,” Weber says.
The rise in SUV sales has seen the segment increase its market share by 1.9%, compared to the same year-to-date period in 2013. SUV sales accounted for 31.4% of the January to July 2014 motor vehicle market, and 32.1% of the market in the month of July 2014.
Small and large SUV are the most popular with sales up 16.9% and 3.3% respectively YTD, but the medium SUV segment actually saw a drop in sales by 0.8%.
The biggest drop was seen in the micro vehicle segment with a drop of 31.75 compared to the same period last year. A total of 14,546 Micro Vehicles were sold in 2013 in stark contrast to the 9928 units sold so far in 2014. The light, small and medium car segments also saw drops of 9.8%, 2% and 8.5% respectively.
Government purchases of new motor vehicles increased by 8.5% compared to July 2013, and 6.4% compared to the same YTD period in 2013. Government buyers purchased 31.8 % more SUVs than in July 2013 and 11.4% new passenger cars. However, government purchases of light commercial vehicles decreased by 9%.
Private sales rose 1.4%, with private buyers purchasing 16.9% more SUVs than in July 2013; but 6.4% less passenger vehicles and 1.6% less light commercial vehicles. YTD private sales are up 2.1%. But business sales continue to fall behind 2013 sales figures, with business buyers purchasing 5.1% fewer new motor vehicles than in July 2013; bringing YTD figures 8.4% lower than in 2013.
Passenger and light commercial sales decreased 6.2 and 5.1%, respectively, compared to July 2013 sales. Looking at year-to-date figures, sales in these segments declined 4.6 and 5.3%, respectively, compared to January to July 2013 sales figures.
Toyota Corolla, a popular choice in July
The Toyota Corolla is still the most popular car in Australia as it maintains the title of top selling vehicle for the month. Combined sales of the popular hatch and sedan (pictured) totalled 3800 last month, lifting the Corolla’s tally to almost 26,000 for the year – enough to give it a narrow overall lead.
Australians bought almost 16,500 Toyota vehicles for the month, while no other competing brand reached 9000 sales. The Corolla was followed by the Mazda3 (3421), another Toyota, the Hilux (3140), the Holden Commodore (2469) and the Hyundai i30 (2434).
Toyota maintained the overall lead in market share for June 2014 (18.3%), followed by Holden (10%), Hyundai (9.3%), Mazda (9%) and Ford (6.9%).
Australian Capital Territory, NSW, South Australia and Victoria all showed growth when compared to July 2013 (5.4%, 2.9%, 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively). Sales declined in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia (-13%, -4.6%, -11.2% and -3%, respectively).
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