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More on the 2010 Sales Numbers
With month one having flown by and the first sales figures of 2011 available today for scrutiny, showing a 1.7% decrease compared to January 2010, I thought it was time to take another look at our million plus effort from 2010.
The motoring industry had a great year in overall sales even with all of the international pressures of GFC aftermath. Good new to manufacturs who have failed dismally elsewhere in the world. The new vehicle market had a rise in sales of 10.5% (98,246 vehicles) over 2009 figures. The total figure of vehicles sold in 2010 was 1,035,574 which is very decent considering our small population base.
The ‘shining star’ segment was the Compact SUV with and whopping increase in sales of 36.6%, which is a boost of 30,759 vehicles. It is proof that our buying habits are closely related to our opinions on global warming and rising fuel prices. The compact SUV allows for the family to be both mobile and economical.
It is no surprise that Toyota kept is top position in the Aussie market followed by the beloved Holden, Ford and Mazda brands. It is good to see that the up and coming global giants like Hyundai, Mitsubishi, VW and Nissan are making head ways into our markets. They are all producing good quality, highly equipped, safety conscious vehicles without the price tag. Toyota is miles ahead, but there is real competition for the top spot in such a volatile and fickle market such as the motoring industry.
Toyota holds the lead at 20.7% market share (214,718 vehicles)-down from 2009 by 0.7%; Holden is in 2nd place with a 12.8% market share-steady from the previous year; and Ford in 3rd place with 9.2% share which is down 1.1% from ’09.
The increasing share holders are Hyundai with and increase of 1% to 7.7% (80,038 vehicles); Nissan up 0.5% to 6.1%; and VW up 0.5% to 3.7%.
In sheer numbers the only major manufacturers (Top 10) in 2010 that did not increase its volume number (cars actually sold in the calendar year) were Ford and Honda. Ford decreased in sales by 1,217 vehicles in 2010. This is unfortunate for such an iconic Australian brand-even though it is American in its heritage and ownership. Whatever happened to the ‘Ford man’ or the ‘Holden family’? They were simpler times and I can see Ford making inroads again in the years to come with some new attractive models on the horizon.
It seems there is real desire for Australians to own and drive new vehicles with the 2010 figures proving that buyer awareness is growing and the dealers are addressing their individual needs through an array of pricing, equipment and solid manufacturing to keep the buyers happy.
It is a buyers’ market, so keep your eye out for a bargain.
P.S. Would anyone like to have a guess at the year end figure for 2011? Remember last year was 1,035,574. I’ll start the ball rolling with 980,000.
Great New TV Ads
A few months ago we listed our all time car TV ad favourites. It seems that many agrred with us, though some had other ideas. We’ve just come across two new car ads from Europe that we thought were great fun.
The first one is for Volkswagen, and the message is ‘no matter how harshly you treat a vee-dub it can take the punishment’. A great and very funny way to make the point here.
The second commercial is also amusing and a bit way out. It’s for Mercedes and says that the car is so good it will be life changing for you.
What do you think?
Crash For Clunkers
As predicted, the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Julia Gillard initiative announced prior to the last election has finally crashed out of political contention. The Gillard Government announced today that it was to be abandoned due the the budgetry restraints imposed by the cost impositions from the Queensland flood disasters.
This is by no means unexpected as many criticised the initiative when it was first announced as being ineffective and a highly priced way of improving the environment.
From Private Fleet’s point of view we did not support the scheme in the first place as we felt it did not give sufficient incentive for the new car buyer, so we do not think our customers will be disadvantaged by its cancellation.
Winners And Losers in 2010
The Federal Chamber Of Automotive Industries (FCAI) have just released figures and data on sales of motor vehicles in 2010 – and they make interesting reading, even to the layman.
Million Barrier Broken
2010 showed an increase of 10.5% on 2009 and posted the second highest sales on record at 1.03 million passenger cars, SUV’s and commercial vehicles for the year. That’s nearly 100,000 more new vehicles than the year before. There were, of course, plenty of winners, but, rather surprisingly, there were also some very big losers.
The Big Winners
Toyota was the biggest selling brand in 2010 for the eighth year running, selling 214,000 vehicles, some 77,000 more than the runner-up Holden, with Ford a distant third. However there were some significant and unexpected changes.
SUV’s
A massive 25% more Sports Utility Vehicles were sold in 2010, reflecting the continued interest in 4WD and off-road type vehicles. By contrast normal passenger vehicles could only manage a more modest 9.5% increase.
Luxury Vehicles
As a clear reflection of the GFC recovery Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley all recorded increased sales in excess of 50% over 2009 (Rolls Royce, incidentally, recorded a huge 179% increase).
The Imports
The best overall performer was Great Wall from China, but that’s because it was working from a very low base in 2009. Even so, it is a sign of things to come with nearly 5000 vehicles sold in 2010, and other Chinese imports set to join the assault in 2011.
Hyundai (+27%), Nissan (+18.5%), Suzuki (+22%) and Skoda (+32%) also performed well.
There were many other imports who could boast good increases but amongst these most notably Volkswagen scored a 26% increase to be the only European amongst the top ten brands.
Perhaps the most surprising statistic from the importers was the source country with the biggest growth was India! India had a massive 680% increase with more than 6000 vehicles landing on our shores in 2010.
India?? What cars do we buy that are made in India? Well, if you buy a Hyundai i20 you’ll most likely find it was made in India (if you want to check how to find where your car comes from click here).
……. And the Losers
Not surprisingly the biggest loser was SAAB, due to the threatened closure, but then, with new cars due it will probably recover to be the most successful performer in 2011! Amongst the bigger brands Chrysler (-20%), Dodge (-21%), Fiat (-29%) and Renault (-21%) suffered, and Ford would not have been happy either, as they fell back by 1.3% in comparison with Holden’s 11.2% growth.
Just to show you how careful you have to be when reading figures the biggest loser was Maybach (-100%). Who? Maybach is the Mercedes luxury brand (?). It sold one vehicle in 2009, but none in 2010. You can look for the Arnie Shwarzenneger Hummer on the same scrapheap (-87%) with only 55 sold prior to their demise.
……and finally, the best performers.
Light Cars under $25K
Suzuki Alto
Small Cars Under $40K
Holden Cruz
Medium Cars Up To $60K
Volkswagen Jetta
Large Cars
BMW 5 Series
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