Vfacts Decenmber 2010

[vztrt]

So we round out the year.

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...104-19evt.html

Car sales slow in December
Toby Hagon
January 4, 2011 - 4:44PM

Demand for new vehicles softened in December but 2010 is still shaping up to be the third biggest year on record.

Vehicle sales figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show a December slowdown with some brands set to report big drops in sales compared with the same month for 2009.

Drive has seen confidential figures to be released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries that show brands such as Ford, Holden, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Honda and Subaru experienced a sales slump of between 6 and 24 per cent.

Mitsubishi and Ford were two brands understood to have been hit hard in a market that struggled to match the pace of what was a bumper end to 2009.
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There’s a strong possibility the overall sales for December 2010 could slump behind that of the corresponding period for 2009, although the year is on track for the third biggest result ever for new-car sales in Australia, with sales expected to peak at more than 1,030,000.

For the first nine months of the year new-car sales were up 25 per cent but the last three months of the year have seen the market growth slow, partly on the back of a strong end to 2009. October sales were up just 0.1 per cent, while November grew only 1.8 per cent.

The Holden Commodore continued its long-running streak as the best-selling car in the country, a mantle it’s held for 15 consecutive years.

However, on the back of various year-end incentives Toyota’s small cars – the Yaris and Corolla – enjoyed a big sales burst. The Corolla, again the top-selling small car by just edging out the Mazda3, was the best seller for December, selling almost 5000 cars.

Not all brands saw sales slide, however.

Hyundai’s impressive growth continued in December with sales jumping 45 per cent, putting the brand on track to experience sales growth of about one-third.

Toyota was again the top selling brand with modest sales growth but enough to surge it past 200,000 vehicles yet again.

Nissan was another brand that experienced growth on the back of the arrival of its new Micra city car.

[dannyhilton]

With a 2.9% finance deal on the Yaris and Corolla, their sales will no doubt be on fire. As for the predicted slump for Ford, I hate to pull up excuses, but we're all full aware that fleet sales drop in December, January and February, before gaining momentum in March. Ranger, Falcon and Territory sell well to fleets, so IMO this would explain why Ford may have dropped more than others. Add to this the ageing Focus, limited stock of WS Fiesta Zetec models before the WT Fiesta Zetec model comes in March (the Zetec is the biggest seller) and the medium car market (Mondeo) never being a massive one apart from the Camry, well if Ford gained ground it'd be a miracle.

The next few months will be tough, but in March we'll have the WT Fiesta Zetec which should hopefully clear availability issues, after that an updated Territory with a TDCi option which should no doubt assist sales, and then a revised Falcon with EcoBoost. Fingers crossed.

[deesun]

One of the hardest things in any sales arena is to regain lost ground, to get people back after going to another brand and Ford is still losing ground to almost everyone.

[bobthebilda]

However, on the back of various year-end incentives Toyota’s small cars – the Yaris and Corolla – enjoyed a big sales burst. The Corolla, again the top-selling small car by just edging out the Mazda3, was the best seller for December, selling almost 5000 cars.

5000 cars a month is a pretty good effort, even with the 2.9% finance they are offering. The finance offer is applicable up to the end of Jan 2011, so the corolla should build up a decent lead over the commodore by end of January. I assume Holden are going to have to come up with something, or risk losing the largest selling australian car title.

[Bossxr8]

With down days and an early shutdown December was always going to be a poor month for Ford.

[Resurrection]

So what are the numbers for December?

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

With down days and an early shutdown December was always going to be a poor month for Ford.

Not exactly sure how shutting down production leads to poorer sales to the general public, but-

What is occurring with the local manufacturers is that each time they take a drop in production, they are in turn ruining one of their biggest consumer markets. For example, Ford employs approx 3000 for local assembly, and suppliers and like employ up to 7000 more. I think one would find a larger percentage of Falcon drivers in this group percentage wise than you would find in the general population. As these people get less hours due to shutdowns etc, they are less likely to purchase big ticket items like a Falcon. Less Falcon purchases leads to more shutdowns and so on and so on.


Purely from a financial perspective, if Ford have 3,000 employees and suppliers have 7000 employees for a Broadmeadows production base of 50,000 cars a year ( 5 cars per year per employee), then there is no way that anyone is making money from these numbers.

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

Not exactly sure how shutting down production leads to poorer sales to the general public.

I think he's trying to say while you can sell a car with no cars on the lot, VFACTS don't count the sale until it's registered. So having an early shut down and down days is reflected in the sales tally.

[prydey]

oh noes.... here we go again! the falcon is useless. ford are useless. ford's marketing is useless. large cars are silly. ford need a wagon. sales figures show which are the best products. sales figures show which companies are profitable and which aren't!......

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by prydey

oh noes.... here we go again! the falcon is useless. ford are useless. ford's marketing is useless. large cars are silly. ford need a wagon. sales figures show which are the best products. sales figures show which companies are profitable and which aren't!......

I think you are doing the equivalent of your fingers in your ears going nah nah nah I can't hear you. Basically you are showing great promise as a candidate for a Ford regional sales manager position. ;)

On a serious note, Ford have burn't a lot of bridges with consumers over many years. It will take a decade or more of being on top of their game to even hope to reverse the trend.

You don't sell someone a shoddy Falcon or Territory, with no recalls or proper fixes and expect them to come running back to you a few years later when you offer a new engine choice in the same car. Only Ford and its die hard fans think that will work. Once someone moves away from a brand or service, it becomes exponentially harder to get them back. They are gun shy and in Fords case, for good reason. They are also in a incredibly competitive market. There will be no quick fixes for Ford.

Only a prolonged commitment to being the best in all areas: service, sales, warranty, dealers and support will see the trend pickup for them. Even if all that was in place, I would expect Ford have a decade or more of hard work in front of them to turn the reputation and sales around. I wish them the best, because so many jobs and unique Australian products depend on it, but new product or learning how to make cars more cost effectively in a shrinking market segment won't pull it off alone. That is just part of the equation. Ford needs to be a better experience in all contact points that the customer deals with them.

Dan

[morak001]

hmmm, the lack of a sedan based wagon may also have a small effect on the Falcon from '09 figures, but some drift to Territory or Mondeo may have occured with minimal impact on the bottom line, unless the drift was to commodore.....

[burnz]

Commodore, Falcon sales lowest in decades
http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2010...-decades-17859

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by burnz

Commodore, Falcon sales lowest in decades
http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2010...-decades-17859

That article is from 6 Jan 2010. Last years article

[burnz]

Originally Posted by phillyc

That article is from 6 Jan 2010. Last years article

ha ha you're right, i havent clicked over yet..

[uranium_death]

Commodore and Falcon sales lowest in decades...
Gee, Mr Dowling REALLY researched that!

Large cars form the smallest percentage of total sales more than ever as people look towards small and medium alternatives.
In 1983 when you had the VH, small cars were not as well equipped as today.

Today a small car has many of the features of a larger car except the total power output, torque, size and space. For some people, that isn't important.

Companies are more prepared to put money into smaller cars now because they form a larger percentage of the market now and to have a car inferior to others will mean less success...theoretically at least...

[Resurrection]

A 'small' car isn't small these days. A 2011 Toyota Corolla is as big as a 1978 VB Holden Commodore.

[tapeworm]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

A 'small' car isn't small these days. A 2011 Toyota Corolla is as big as a 1978 VB Holden Commodore.

yeah, new cars are freakin huge. Couldn't help noticing that my EF parked next to a recent Corolla sedan at the shops was actually smaller in dimension. New cars in general are too big and heavy imho.

[tezxr8man]

Originally Posted by tapeworm

yeah, new cars are freakin huge. Couldn't help noticing that my EF parked next to a recent Corolla sedan at the shops was actually smaller in dimension. New cars in general are too big and heavy imho.

Spot on, My eb is belittled by the Fg and there is no need for a car that big, it is great but when a carolla or focus has as much space as my EB then maybe ford should look at shrinking down a little bit and change perceptions about them being big thirsty boats

[1TUFFUTE]

does anyone know how to get hold of the figures for the new GT and GS sedans and utes. Im not sure if they are included in the falcon numbers or not...i cant remember...but individual numbers would be very interesting to see at this early stage.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by tezxr8man

Spot on, My eb is belittled by the Fg and there is no need for a car that big, it is great but when a carolla or focus has as much space as my EB then maybe ford should look at shrinking down a little bit and change perceptions about them being big thirsty boats

i think what you meant to say was that you don't need a car that big. the commodore is a similar size which means there is still over 5000 people every month that do buy large sized cars.

i agree though that many people realise that they can get by with a smaller vehicle, and when you start looking at smaller vehicles the range and choices are huge.

[mik]

Originally Posted by tezxr8man

Spot on, My eb is belittled by the Fg and there is no need for a car that big, it is great but when a carolla or focus has as much space as my EB then maybe ford should look at shrinking down a little bit and change perceptions about them being big thirsty boats

corola and focus are space efficient , but they are not all purpose cars as the comodore and falcon are, and if you can fit a family and luggage in either of those small/meduim cars the way you can in a falcadore or tow a boat, caravan, i`ll eat pumpkin(i hate pumpkin), not to mention the safety factor of biggness, if it was purely a case of no one wants big cars......they would`nt be buying gigantic 4wd`s and suv`s and dual cabs in spades.

[MrZ]

Originally Posted by tapeworm

yeah, new cars are freakin huge. Couldn't help noticing that my EF parked next to a recent Corolla sedan at the shops was actually smaller in dimension. New cars in general are too big and heavy imho.

Mate you must be imagining things if you think the Corolla's bigger than the EF. Here are the dimensions:

L/W/H:

Corolla: 4545/1760/1470
EF:4906/1861/1453

HUGE difference in length, massive 10cm wider. Corolla is 1.7cm taller, but that's barely enough to notice.

[ST]

EDIT.

[The Snout]

Don't forget there was a lunar eclipse too.

[bobthebilda]

Whoa, the preliminary release of data from the vfacts website for December 2010 sales, would indicate a shocker for the local manufacturers. Sales for Large cars was 8003 cars, compared to 9620 for december 2009. Sales for 4x2 Utes was 4166 cars, a dramatic drop from the december 2009 total of 7490. Thats 12169 (dec 2010) cars compared to 17110 (dec 2009) cars in the two largest sectors that Locally made Holdens and Fords dominate in.

[ford man xf]

Holden Commodore best-selling car 15 years in a row

THE margin may be narrower but the Holden Commodore has posted its 15th straight year as the top-selling car in the country.
While Toyota blitzed the 2010 new vehicle market for the eighth straight year - which topped the one-million mark for only the third time - the Commodore passenger car stayed ahead of Corolla and HiLux.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) figures show 45,956 Commodores sold last year, a run that started in 1996.

Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux said the Commodore still resonates with Australians drivers.

"It's our intention for Commodore to be the country's top-selling car for many years to come - we'll do this by continually improving the vehicle to ensure it remains relevant for Australian motorists," he said.

The Holden Cruze finished the year in the seventh position with 28,334 vehicles - fourth in the small car segment - ahead of the Adelaide-built version going on sale this year.

The FCAI said the new vehicle market outperformed other economic indicators last year, recording its second highest annual sales figure and passing one million units for only the third time.

Official VFACTS sales data released by the FCAI shows 1,035,574 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were in 2010, a 10.5 per cent increase on 2009 - which equates to 98,246 vehicles.

FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the 2010 result was an "exceptional outcome."

"The result is very encouraging given all the challenges of the year - the prospect of higher interest rates, political uncertainty and the withdrawal of market stimulus," he said.

Mr McKellar said he expected 2011 to be a year of consolidation, with the prospect of further growth.

"With continuing strong levels of vehicle affordability there is no reason why the new vehicle market won't continue to perform better than other areas of the economy," he said.

TOP FIVE VEHICLES

1 Holden Commodore
2 Toyota Corolla
3 Toyota Hilux
4 Mazda 3
5 Hyundai i30

TOP FIVE BRANDS

1 Toyota
2 Holden
3 Ford
4 Mazda
5 Hyundai

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business...-1225982981003

[Archilino]

Aussie car sales top one million in 2010

New car market continues to perform as annual figures grow by more than 10 per cent
Australia has recorded its second-highest ever annual vehicle sales figure in 2010. With a total of 1,035,574 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles sold last year, the new car market topped the magic million mark for only the third time in history.

Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) today shows the 2010 calendar year score a 10.5 per cent rise over the year prior when 937,328 new vehicles were sold.

"This is an exceptional outcome and is the second highest result on record and only the third time ever that the market exceeded more than one million sales," said FCAI Chief Executive, Andrew McKellar.

"The result is very encouraging given all the challenges of the year – the prospect of higher interest rates, political uncertainty and the withdrawal of market stimulus.

"Consumers clearly recognised the safety and environmental benefits of upgrading to a new vehicle and in such a competitive market they were rewarded with good vehicles at good prices."

McKellar said that as Australia continues to benefit from a positive economic climate, the year ahead promises even greater new car sales.

"We expect 2011 will be a year of consolidation with the prospect of further improvement on the growth achieved last year," he explained.

"With continuing strong levels of vehicle affordability there is no reason why the new vehicle market won't continue to perform better than other areas of the economy."

The best performing brand of 2010 was Toyota with a 20.7 per cent market share; the Japanese brand topping local charts for the eighth consecutive year. Following Toyota were local manufacturers Holden and Ford on 12.8 and 9.2 per cent respectively.

Not shying away from large cars Australian buyers favoured most the Holden Commodore in 2010. It sold nearly 46,000 units as Holden's family favourite claimed Australia's most popular car for the 15th year running.

The Commodore shared the podium with Toyota Corolla (41,632) and Toyota Hilux (39,896).

Top Ten Models:

1. Holden Commodore (45,956)
2. Toyota Corolla (41,632)
3. Toyota HiLux (39,896)
4. Mazda 3 (39,003)
5. Hyundai i30 (29,772)
6. Ford Falcon (29,516)
7. Holden Cruze (28,334)
8. Toyota Camry (25,014)
9. Mitsubishi Lancer (23,076)
10. Hyundai Getz (21,547)

Top Ten Manufacturers:

Toyota (214,278)
Holden (132,923)
Ford (95,284)
Mazda (84,777)
Hyundai (80,038)
Nissan (62,676)
Mitsubishi (62,496)
Honda (40,375)
Subaru (40,025)
Volkswagen (38,016)

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2011...-in-2010-23126

[buggerlugs]

Geez, I thought I'd seen a lot of Holden Cruze's in my travels, but that number is staggering........

[anto]

Those numbers arent good.
I dont know what it is but it seems that a lot of people drift away from the brand over the years almost as if there is some kind of stigma associated with it. Sad.

a friend of mine who has always had fords, gt's xr8's and so on has just recently bought a new camry hybrid for his Mrs because he got 3 times more for his trade than the best of the Ford dealers would offer and that tiny interest rate form toyota.
I was staggered he did it, this guy is as Ford as you get but he was so insulted by the trade valuations and their refusal to budge.
My Brother also had always bought Fords and recently switched to a LandCrusier from his Terri turbo for the first time because it hadnt been updated in so long . I showed him the new one and he was excited about getting back into one again when the lease is up..

[trippytaka]

I think the amazing result in that is the i30. It's proof of the shift in attitudes towards quality of the Korean brand, good product design aesthetics and an indication that drive-away price point (and not whole-of-life costs) is a real sales driver.