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09/01/2011
By EWAN KENNEDY
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The Australian automotive industry is one of the key indicators of how well, or otherwise, the economy of our great country is going. Only days into January industry statistician Vfacts has issued some fine numbers that auger well for the future not only of the auto industry, but for the country in general.
Total vehicle sales for 2010 were 1,035,574, which is almost up by 100,000 on the 2009 total. Even better is the fact that 2010 was the second biggest year ever. Only the pre-GFC boom year of 2007 was better, and sales for that year were only about 14,000 higher than those of the year just gone.
The rise is sales for 2010 over 2009 was 10.5 per cent, indicating that the Australian motoring scene is alive and very much on the move.
Pleasingly, buyer confidence is certainly a factor in the increase of vehicle sales in Australia in 2010. Despite rising interest rates, the cessation of stimulus packages to counteract the GFC, and the normal hesitation that enters consumers’ minds during an election year, private buyers were responsible for about 60 per cent of the increase in sales in 2010 over 2009.
Toyota Australia was yet again the number one company in the 2010 sales race, a position it has held eight consecutive years. However Toyota lost ground in absolute terms as its sales rose only 6.8 % on a market that’s up 10.5 %. Toyota’s sales and marketing chief said his company was lagging behind the market increase for two reasons: firstly, several models are getting close to the end of their life cycle, a time when sales typically decline; secondly, several vehicle recalls early in the year harmed the company’s reputation for a period.
Though most of the problems with Toyotas occurred overseas, not in Australia, the general media seemed to take great delight in doing a bit of tall-poppy bashing for quite a few weeks.
Having said that, Toyota is so far in front of its nearest rivals that they must be embarrassed; while Toyota had a very healthy 20.7 %, Holden could only manage 12.8% and Ford 10.3%. Both to these companies have enjoyed time in the number one spot over the years, but that must seem like ancient history to them these days.
Though Holden was a distant second in the overall sales race it did retain the distinction of having the biggest selling car in Australia in 2010. For the fifteenth year running the Commodore was the winner, with sales of 45,956; Toyota’s Corolla wasn’t that far behind at 41,632, with Toyota gaining the final podium position with 39,896 sales of its HiLux. Mazda3 nipped at the heels of Toyota HiLux as 39,003 found new homes.
There’s than quite a gap to number five, Hyundai’s i30 has only been on the Australian market for a comparative short time but is a big mover with 29,772 sales in 2010. Ford’s Falcon, once a huge seller with many year of market domination, is lagging badly behind at only 29,516. |
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