Australian fleet sales slowing
March 5, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Australian fleet sales, which account for the largest slice of all new local vehicle purchases, have slowed by 22 per cent this month as the financial crisis deepens.
Hit hardest by the fall are manufacturers of locally made six-cylinder sedans which traditionally account for up to 70 per cent of all fleet purchases.
The latest Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) sales figures show that almost 20,000 fewer new vehicles were sold last month as compared with February 2008.
Holden, Ford and Toyota, which rely heavily on fleet sales, have all experienced larger than usual sales slumps falling 27, 22 and 31 per cent respectively.
Hyundai was one of the few brands to see an increase in sales last month up 3.5 per cent as compared to the same time last year.
Audi too posted an increase, up by 5.4 per cent, as did Jaguar with a surprising 22 per cent rise.
Fleet operators are urging businesses to take advantage of Government tax incentives with many businesses eligible for a 30 per cent deduction against the cost of an eligible new vehicle bought before June 30.
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So, the overall market declined by 21.9% but fleets suffered the massive loss of 22%.
Ford’s main fleet vehicle, Falcon, only suffered a 5% decline. It would appear that infact if Ford declined 22% and falcon only 5%, then falcon is actually performing relatively well.
Holden’s main fleet vehicle, Commodore, declined 22% or about market average.
Aurion down 40%, and Camry down 9%.
To suggest that fleet sales of Aussie made cars have taken a bigger hit than the overall market is misleading at best.
Ha Ha He He Ho Ho…………….. :-)
THe hardest hit are the manufacturers of the local big sixes???????
That’s funny! Accord to Vfacts the biggest “single model drops” for the Australians were (and I quote)
Toyota Corolla 2,769 (4,191)
Toyota Aurion 968 (1,855)
Toyota Yaris 1,548 (2,280)
Holden Utility 4X2 649 (1,454)
Holden Commodore 3,376 (4,312)
Holden Barina 846 (1,289)
Ford Focus 853 (1,310)
Ford Territory 765 (1,299)
Ford Ranger 4X2 438 (862)
The reason for my mirth is that the figures don’t actually relay what the press release (yes I believe it’s a relase not nessecarilly the opinions of the moderators)is trying to say. Yes the Six’s are down, but by nowhere near as much as the darling of the 4 cyl set the Corolla. You will also notice that each has a 4cyl as a major slumper.
Sorry bit of homer simpson moment, meant to read ACCORDING to Vfacts….. :-(
Thats the joy of stats Frontman you can cook them any way you like. The reality of it according to VFACTS is the sector hit hardest compared to last year is the Medium,Large, Small then light.
Light -15.4
Small -16.3
Medium -21.6
Large -18.8
At the end of the day its quite an even drop across the board, where normally we see a constant drop on the Large car sector. With both Ford and Holden making small cars next year the Small sector stands a better chance of bouncing back than the large sector. Lets face it, big sixes are doomed!
Big sixes will be there for a while yet, but serious question. How many of you have lined up one of the “MEDIUM” sector cars with a “LARGE” sector car??
Mondeo is close to size of FG, and (in sedan form) was only smaller than BF2 in width. THe Mazda 6, Accord, Epica are no longer medium cars! By measurements they are large cars. Perhaps this is why the 6 has failed when compared to it’s predecessor and the Accord (both types) aren’t doing as well as they should (market downturn factored in).
Buyers went to them because they were smaller than the big family cars but now the lines are way too blury.
Hey just an “uneducated” guess.
In defence of the article, I really don’t get the point that Bret is making.
What he is arguing about is the seating position on a deckchair aboard the Titanic. Who cares who drowns first?
Well Frontman you’ve kinda thrown a double argument there :)
Yes its true the medium cars could be considered large, In fact in Europe your Mondeo is deemed a large car.But we have to remember the term big six referrers to your Falcon/Commodore/Aurion/Legend. The medium cars will be around for a while because they offer better engine choices 4/5/6 cylinders and diesel.
But as for traditional big sixes, my guess is the locally made ones will be gone in 5 years. Once local small car production starts, we could see massive drops in demand for the traditional big sixes. This would make importing the only viable option. Then later down the track well see the Mondeo class of car become the Large car.
Jasper, Why you can’t see the error?
Frontman repeated it for you. Lets look at it again, just for you:
“Australian fleet sales….have slowed by 22 percent….. Hit hardest by the fall are manufacturers of locally made six-cylinder sedans …. Holden, Ford and Toyota, all experienced larger than usual sales slumps falling 27, 22 and 31 percent respectively”
Holden declined 27% yet Commodore was only down 22%
Ford declined 22% (inline with the market average) yet Faclon was only down 5%.
Toyota declined 31% and it was the improted volume seeler Corolla the droped 34%.
The article attempts to paint a picture of grim circumstances for local manufacture that just isn’t as bad as they want it to be.
I have to agree with Bret and Frontman.
Techniclly speaking the article is incorrect.
The biggest slumpers for Ford, Holden and Toyota HASNT been the local 6’s as the article accused
Lazybones,
But does your large car stat include SUVs etc???
Either way your stats even show the large cars not to be the biggest slumper. you have it as the medium being the biggest slumper which still puts the article as incorrect
From a sales point of view i can tell you that trying to trade in a six cyl anything is near imposable (finding a wholesaler to buy it). If you have a four cyl late model automatic to trade than we are keen to talk to you.
“you have it as the medium being the biggest slumper which still puts the article as incorrect ”
That wasn’t my point, the article is technically incorrect as pointed out by Bret & Frontman. My point is that the market in general is depressed and despite local big sixes NOT being the worst hit their future is still far worse than that of the small or even medium car sector.
The small car is the only hope for our local manufacturers. The writing is on the wall for the local big sixes, its just a question of time.
Fair enough then Lazy.
But i actually think the introduction of of tha small car will help the aussie operations keep viable.
The biggest thing is to keep the operations here viable, the small car will do just that in picking up the slack. The second step is to make the large car a global one hence making the actual large car platform viable.
Half a dozen large car in the one stable aint gonna cut it now. the small cars have already gone global use status
Lazy,
and further to what i was saying, it seems the aussie I6 is being hunted down by several overseas manufacturers, perhaps even further brightening the future for large cars.
I doubt large cars have a future, even globally. Remember both GM/Ford have dumped their large RWD platform and just think of whats going to happen when the US start pushing average fuel consumption of 7.0L/100K. What large car is going to manage that. The only way to be efficient is to downsize.
I doubt when the Falcon becomes the Taurus in 2013 that the Taurus will sell in volumes past about 500 PM, by then the Mondeo may be the large car of choice.
Its just a case of enjoying it now while you can.
Toyota must be worried about the fleet sales decline…
“Toyota must be worried about the fleet sales decline… ”
I should think all 3 are worried, in order of worriedness i’d say:-
Holden, Toyota ,Kevin Rudd, Ford
Okay so fleet is taking a hammering ,and it will continue .
The govt should adopt german idea of a govt backed $5000.00 minimum trade in value on any old car , when purchasing a new car .
Maybe this would stimulate the private market .
Get some old wrecks of the road at the same time .
Lazy,
the large cars dont have to get down to 7L
As you even said its average fuel consumptiuon.
the current 10L will be complimented by cars such as the “econetic” fiesta plodding along at 3L odd as well as fords upcoming range of ecoboost engines.
A direct injected 6cyl may get around 8L or so, and the diesel versions due next year will also help the average.
To say its not do-able in the future is a little ignorant (no offence)
Also doubt we will have a 2013 Taurus because the I6 is said to be confirmed till 2016, and global demand for our I6 may see it worth while investing in post 2016
holstein hore,
Im being a doubting Thomas on that incentive because i figure anyone who keeps a vehicle long enough to only be worth 3 or 5 grand isnt exactlly your new car shopper.
you are gonna get a couple of grand trade on your old bomb anyway so people are only really gonna be a couple of grand better off.
I doubt that extra couple of grand is going to make or break someones decision to fork out 25-30 big ones for a newbie.
People with cars that old dont usually buy new anyway
The bigger picture is what are they going to do with all the six cyl cars they can not move?
TS,
probably the same thing they are gonna do with the 4cyl cars that are stuck in holding yards around the world i guess
TS, but the biggest picture is what are they going to do with all of the Corollas sitting around that they can’t move?
What worries me is what happens when the international downturn affects Toyota’s Camry exports, as it will. I think that is the biggest threat, currently, to the Australian auto/component industry. production slowdowns can absorb the domestic market downturn, but export volumes are, I think, harder to deal with.
Andrew we’ll have to agree to disagree. But i’ll make you a deal. If the Aussie Falcon is still around by the 2014. I’ll buy you a beer! If not, you’ll owe me 2!
10L/100Km is high by todays standards it represents around 250g Co2/km, in 5 years it will be unacceptable. You’ll need some serious and expensive technology to keep the large car dream alive.
“I6 is said to be confirmed till 2016″, where did you hear this. I heard a statement from Marin Burela claiming “Possible service until 2015 or 2016″ but nothing confirmed.
“To say its not do-able in the future is a little ignorant”
Its not about it being do-able, its about costs & investment. How much are you willing to invest in a segment which has been falling for years? At some point, it doesn’t become viable.
Maybe the big boys should just do a deal with woolies and coles and flog em on the supermarket fore court , rock bottom prices , low commision , no frills .
Andrew M, if there was a $5k buy out of cars older than say 10 years, I would sell mine in an instant and spend $40k on a new one.
Dealers aren’t interested in trading in for old cars and the effort to sell privately just makes me keep putting off buying a new one.
i’ve asked this question before guys,so to all those who wish the commie and falcon dead,think about this.i have 35k,am 6 foot 4,have 3 kids approaching 6 foot,come from a v8 background.like nice looking,good handling cars.what else do i buy?two small cars?thats why in australia big family cars will always be here.what would happen if one day some very bright spark invented a fuel system that was dead cheap to run.would you all buy the smallest tin car car then?
i was reading wheels mag this arvo,and the article on the u.s.a. motor industry was compelling reading.it basically stated that americans bought the biggest car they could afford to run.when the fuel price spiked,they abandoned them in droves.fast foward to today,and the more moderate fuel price is seeing them return again to bigger cars.this is not rocket science folkes.its the old”mine’s bigger than yours” which has been going on forever.why buy a smaller car if one can afford a big one.the only problem is the opec nations greed.
and while we’ve seen what high fuel prices can do to the economy,is it just me or is everybody concerned about their household energy bills.my latest hit 3 figures,and i used less than this time last year.you don’t see any headlines about this.and you get no choice.solar panel anyone…
ANDREW L
You are right , my sister just bought a $10,000 car, dealer not interested in trade , which she sold for $1500 privately
As she says with $5000.00 offer for bomb would have considered $20,000 jobby .
Lazy,
how about the deal is 2 beers bought either way, and ill give a shake.
Large car sales will plateau i feel. At current sales and even with further decline they will still be viable
Andrew L,
I feel that those who have zero value in their car are the ones that dont really care about the latest and greatest.
most people with cars worth only a few grand either cant afford to spend 30K and up on a new car, or they either cant justify pumpimg such a large amount of money into one of the worst investments one can buy (dont blame them)
Perhaps you sister is in the minority?????
I just cant see another 3 grand suddenly helping her find another 7K
Also i assume she wasnt looking for a new car anyway???? which fits my profile
you dont get a new car for 10K, and you would have to tear a ripper to get a newbie for 20K
^^^^^^sorry should have been directed at spellbound aswell
Jeckyl,
they have invented a fuel thats cheap to run
it starts with “L”, middle letter “P” and ends in “G”
I dont think any cars are going to be axed or are out of fashion its just that there all making thousands upon thousands of cars and times are good then all of a sudden no ones got any money to spend and the resection hits hard and all the cars there making are not selling any more so there stock piled up its happing to all makes and models some not so .but when all picks up again then thay will all be back on the agenda and selling again
JEKYL,
As I pointed out earlier, in Europe the Mondeo is considered a large car, and yes we have tall people there also. Another thing to consider is no so much the size of the car, but the size of the cabin. A family friend of mine who is your height (rugby player build) always complained he couldn’t fit in any large cars (this is in the UK). So he only bought Citroen. Because for some bizarre reason the cabin was made for him.
As for the US, they are going to experience serious change under the Obama administration. The very example you stated is similar to what the GM’s mr Wagoner said. Its hard to fund new green technologies when theres cheap petrol around.
There are already lots of good sustainable ideas which will see us break our dependancy on oil. But unfortunately they ALL involve downsizing and being efficient. Even when Hydrogen arrives you won’t be driving a large combustion engine V6/V8.
Andrew M, lets just call it a slab either way. Crownies for me mate :)
Lazy,
mine better be cold
I just bought a VE Commodore well Berlina to be exact and I can’t be happier. I previously had a 2.0l 4 cylinder VW and what a POS that was. Low down torque was non existant, overall power was husqvarna or pfaff like, put 4 peoiple in it and you’re better off walking. There is nothing like the silky smooth nature of the Holden 6cyl, put 4 people in it and tow a boat and she is still sweet. So for me the 6 will never die and my preference would be to walk over driving a 4.