Australian new car market falls 18.5 per cent in January
February 4, 2009 by Matt Brogan
The continuing impact of the global financial crisis forced a downturn in new vehicle sales in Australia during January, but the industry hopes new fiscal measures will help stabilise the market.
Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) today show that 67,079 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in January – down 18.5 per cent (15,191 vehicles) compared to the same month in 2008.
“This is a not an unexpected result given the broadening impact of the global financial crisis now being felt across the Australian economy,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said. “Australian new vehicle sales have actually held up well by comparison with sales in many other countries.”
The automotive industry is hopeful that additional stimulus from recent interest rate cuts and new fiscal policy measures announced by the Federal Government will help to underpin the market in coming months.
In particular, businesses are also encouraged to take advantage of the Federal Government’s strengthened investment allowance, which is expected to apply to new vehicle purchases.
“This is an extremely competitive market with plenty of opportunities, and with interest rates now even lower people should not be deterred from considering buying a new vehicle,” Mr McKellar said. “It’s understood that many businesses will be able claim a deduction for up to 30 per cent of the cost of a new vehicle. That is an enormous saving and something that businesses should look at very closely.”
Toyota was Australia’s best-selling brand in January with 13,427 vehicles (20 per cent market share) followed by Holden with 8762 (13.1 per cent of the market) and Mazda with 6532 vehicle sales (9.7 per cent market share), with Ford slipping to fourth place.
Print it: 
Holden’s market share improved, Toyota’s market share sank, but where is Ford ? OMG !!!!!!!
Mazda beating Ford, that is disasterous for Ford !
I thought I would never live to see the day !
Being bold, I’d like to say that I don’t put all the blame for the downturn on the Global Financial crash.
Now before everyone call me stupid etc I’ll explain my thoughts.
I actually think the market is just adjusting itself to it’s proper level. this is following two MASSIVE years in the industry with 3>4 good years leading upto them.
2007 was the first time ever the industry topped 1 mil with 1,075,000 this was followed last year by 1,034,000. (even though the general media was saying the market was down 20%). Given that Australians are still of the mindset to pay their cars off before trading, this means that the market will remain “low” for the next 3 years.
However that LOW figure you will probably find being close to 2005 sales figures. Hence my reasoning that this is the balancing out.
Agree entirely Frontman, I’ve long held the belief that the records couldn’t continue to tumble as the market simply wouldn’t be there to support it. Mid to high 800K is where I would expect it to settle.
Kudos to Mazda for gaining the number one sales spot with Mazda 3, a well deserved achievement. I’d love to know the last time it wasn’t Holden, Ford or Toyota earning this title.
Quiet times in Ssangyong dealerships during January, only one vehicle sold!
Like i said [need to explain it twice for thick subaru brumby owners] 2009 is going to be a year of bargains.
Most brands have commited to quantity orders, so the ONLY way [as subaru have discovered] is to reduce prices to stimulate sales.
Ford seem to be screwed, countdown to the end of the aussie car from them, another 380 in the making.
Base Falcon $25k driveaway *could* save them, dont be like the 380 and wait till its to late, NOW is the time to act.
Shame yes, but no piont building something that nobody is buying.
Cheers
F-0
With the global economics continuing to decline, industries including mines are not purchasing as many vehicles which co-incidentally will dent Toyota’s sales.
However … bare in mind that Mitsubishi, Holden, Ford and Nissan sell thier commercials in resonable numbers aswell to the mines / industries and will also suffer from the decrease in purchases but because Toyota is the single largest supplier they will decline the most and i expect that to continue until the markets start to recoup again.
That said, with businesses returning back to work (as much as possible considering the economic challenges) after the festive season then i expect sales figures to be different for the rest of the year to what January produced.
WELL DONE MAZDA … GOOD MOVE but i carn’t see them toppling Ford for long.
But then again, times are certainly radically different so i guess ultimately it is anyones guess at the end of the day.
Cheers
During 2009, it is likely that there will be job losses for some car salesmen, business collapses for some car dealers and perhaps even job losses for some motoring journalists, as advertising revenue falls.
I will be okay, as I have been preparing for the next recession for some time, having gotten through the previous two recessions; and learnt a few things from those experiences.
I also agree with Frontman – the market would likely have corrected even if we weren’t in an economic slide.
The volatility will continue simply because we ARE in an economic slide and discretionary “luxury” purchases like cars and flat screen TVs will be given second and third thoughts by consumers.
Plus there is nothing much to stimulate the market at the moment. Ford’s facelifted Territory and Focus ranges will probably bring about a revival in sales and the impact of the Fiesta is yet to be noted. The Falcon, however great a package, has seriously misfired. Toyota’s passenger range is a bit stale (OK, is always stale) and Holden desperately needs new or facelifted product. You’d think the General would be pulling out all the stops to get the VE10 Commode to market.
Any potential new car buyers out there in Car Advice land? And what are you intending to purchase?
It just shows that nobody is willing to help the country out. They would rather buy an imported heap of crap like a Barina and then complain about losing their job…….wake up Australia.
Dick Smith warned us years ago about the effects of not buying local products and here we are suffering from it now, and I dont only mean the car industry. And dont you idiots tell me that an FG Falcon isnt a world class car and a fantastic car to own and drive because it is. I own 2 and I would reccomend them to anyone. I am sick of people complaining about job losses in this country when they wont do anything to help, in fact they just make it worse. Are our jobs worth losing for an extra couple of dollars a week in petrol? I dont think so. Dont people understand that the more locally produced products we buy the better and cheaper they will get? I guess though with multiculturalism stuffing the country up that less people have a patriotic feeling towards australia than there used to be, this is a huge problem for all local producers.
I had no idea XR5’s were australian made.
The market has spoken, and its not a good message for Ford and the FG. Buyers don’t want the Ford product; its really that simple.
XR5 – “I guess though with multiculturalism stuffing the country up that less people have a patriotic feeling towards australia than there used to be, this is a huge problem for all local producers.”
I don’t think I need to make a comment on that statement, simply restating it for others who may have missed it is enough.
XR5 – how does falling new car sales of 18.5% have ANYTHING to do with locally produced and imported cars? There has been an 18.5% drop in car sales across the board, not just a drop in locally produced cars. You’re entire rant is moot in the context of this article.
RoFLmaTic……..well of course they are not…..anybody knows that ……..it is my nic name because I work on all the XR5’s that come to our dealership.
. Whats that got to do with anything I wrote anyway you idiot. Typical comment really………..why dont you read what i wrote …….couldnt you get past the first line ? lol lol lol lol
Sales of new Mercedes Benz fell 40% in January; but then who cares (except Merc). It was reported in the Financial Review a few months ago that for every car that Merc sells, Honda and Mazda would need to sell two cars just to make the same profit.
Roflmatic…..no its not mute at all. People buy too many imported products in this country, and if you read my comments i said NOT JUST THE CAR INDUSTRY ! I am sorry you cant understand this basic concept……buy local products and we will we far far better off…….get it Roflmatic?
Ford have probably the best cars in each class. Holden have the worst cars in each class.
XR5, it is impossible to explain to you the economic advantages of free trade, which inherently involves there to be a level of importing and exporting.
But perhaps I can start with stating that all of Australia’s exports are imports to other countries. And thank god those other countries don’t have your simplistic, naive view of the world because if they did, then Australia would be in the gutter. Who would we export our natural gas, minerals, livestock and grain to?
BJ Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Wow how insightful BJ! Or are you simply showing your true colours? The three (whose numbers alone gave Mazda third spot because the 6 is still way down on the sales performance of it’s previous model) outsold Commodore and Corolla, yet you say that only Ford has it wrong.
Fiesta hasn’t fired yet because they have only just officially gone to market (last week in January was official advertising start) and Mazda has had huge runout deals on 3. As well as being super aggressive with the overstocked BT-50’s so this result doesn’t surprise me, let’s see how they are travelling at the end of the Quarter. Remember the team that gets the first goal quite often runs out of steam by the end of the game.
Frontman: the post was a response to XR5’s earlier rant about the FG.
I notice that your first post in this string is a direct lift of the views expressed by Rick Damelian in an article published by SMH on 10 January 2009. You didn’t acknowledge that fact in presenting it as your own ‘insight’.
Agree with ROflmatic, simply just stopping imports and buying only australian will be the answer, the export commitments and money from it is more worth than if we marketed it domestically.
Multiculturism may have its negatives e.g. identity and patriotism, but in light of relations with other countries (better trade or alliances) it helps heavily.
I agree with frontman.
that theory of everything just coming back to earth not only applies to the auto sales industry, but also to plasma sales, realestate, the construction industry and many more
the bigger the “boom time” you build up, the harder it will fall when it comes back down
No Doubt, the boom is relatively liner with boom in debt.
XR5. One of the reasons people don’t buy local is because our government is dropping tariffs and not protecting local industries. We want to be part of the ‘world trade’, our huge island with some 20M people with very average incomes. We need EU style approach. Have you seen many Toyotas or Hondas in Europe?, have you seen duties on Japanese cars in EU?..I can ell you, our government is weak and we opened the flood gates of imports on all fronts. Our manufacturing industry is long dead, without government intervention at least on that front, Toyota and Ford plants would have been long gone from AU landscape.
I am one of the buyers of the 1600 or so lancers bought in january, although it hasnt been delivered yet (2 weeks and counting). Got a 2009 for the 2008 price (08 is 500 cheaper), driveaway no more to pay, plus a free set of alloys from the vrx. black. didnt pay for metallic paint neither, so NOW is the time to buy.
Personally, i love the shape of the mazda3, but the only reason i choose not 2 get it was because the new will be out in the next 3 or 4 months. While the safety features were much better than the corolla & etc.
XR5, my local Ford dealer is a you know what. The FG Falcon could be a great car, Ford Australia might well have learn’t their lesson about building better quality cars and the price could be halved….but I still wouldn’t buy one.
Now if Ford sacked my local franshise holder and put in someone who had a clue about customer service…..maybe.
A good car sold by a lousy dealer is still a bad buy.
In many, many Ford dealerships around Australia, thats all you need to know.
Another patriot comes out of the woodwork… a patriot who drives a fully imported car…
XR5 Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
“It just shows that nobody is willing to help the country out. They would rather buy an imported heap of crap like a Barina and then complain about losing their job…….wake up Australia.”
Perhaps you need to state what you do, what you earn, how much in taxes you pay, how you contribute to the community?
“Dick Smith warned us years ago about the effects of not buying local products and here we are suffering from it now, and I dont only mean the car industry.”
You listen to Dick Smith, a man who made his fortune selling imported electronic products!?!?
So are you saying your TV and mobile phone are Australian made?
“And dont you idiots tell me that an FG Falcon isnt a world class car and a fantastic car to own and drive because it is.”
It has a great engine and transmission – and that’s it. Features and quality wise you can purchase better cars at cheaper prices.
“I own 2 and I would reccomend them to anyone.”
I’m sure you do. White Australians only, or those who look a little different?
“I am sick of people complaining about job losses in this country when they wont do anything to help, in fact they just make it worse. Are our jobs worth losing for an extra couple of dollars a week in petrol? I dont think so. Dont people understand that the more locally produced products we buy the better and cheaper they will get?”
Actually, the only reason the local car makers sharpened up their act is due to competition. Otherwise we’d still be driving cars as cheap and nasty as VN Commies and EA Falcons.
And you’re a deluded fool if you think any Australian producer or manufacturer is in business for patriotic reasons. They will all forget any notion of patriotism if challenged fiscally.
“I guess though with multiculturalism stuffing the country up that less people have a patriotic feeling towards australia than there used to be, this is a huge problem for all local producers.”
You’ve shown your true colours now.
Perhaps you need to look around and see how many Australians, or should I say, “white Australians”, are driving brands like Mazda, Honda, Subaru, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Alfa, Mitsubishi, Audi etc…
I think you’ve also not seen the benefits of multiculturalism – though I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t as your words indicate you come from a place like Macquarie Fields.
BJ Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Sorry didn’t come back to this thread till now, but NO I wasn’t aware that I agreed with someone else. However, as I don’t read the SMH (have very little time for journalists in general), then I wouldn’t know what anyone else has written.
What I stated was simply the facts as they stand at present. Perhaps that is why they are repeated elsewhere, (although I have posted the above on another thread). Now wether you believe me or not I don’t really give a toss, however if soemthing is factual then it will seem like everyone is plagerising someone else when they express it.
As to the comment you made, if you meant it in a sarcastic way to XR5 then I mis read it. Thank you for setting me straight.
Top 3 are foreign made and controled while the rest are all aussie made and controlled. We all know that we dont care about the aussie brand here any more.