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New Models

September 2017 VFACTS new vehicle sales

Ford Ranger hits top spot ahead of HiLux, as total market flattens out


New vehicle sales went backwards by 2.4 per cent in September 2017 compared to the same month last year, over the same number of selling days.

VFACTS figures just released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) record 100,200 new cars, SUVs and commercials as having been sold last month.

This takes annual sales at the year’s three-quarter mark to 889,168, a narrow 0.2 per cent ahead of 2016’s current all-time record.

The September break-down saw SUVs take 38.9 per cent of the market, once again ahead of passenger vehicles (38.1), though it was the commercial vehicle market (23 per cent between light and heavy) that grew to the greatest degree.

As we’ve already reported, the Ford Ranger ute was the market’s top-seller last month, with the Toyota HiLux in second.


Top brands for September 2017

Market leader Toyota netted 17,377 sales last month, up 4 per cent despite the overall flat market. Rounding out the podium were Mazda (10,328, down 14 per cent) and Hyundai (8130, down 13 per cent) — both battling slightly.

The next tier was occupied by fleet-favoured Mitsubishi on 7065 sales (up 5 per cent), ahead of Holden (6882, down 20 per cent) and Ford (6845, down 6 per cent).

Next was a cluster of brands all showing good growth, led by Volkswagen (4901, up 12 per cent), ahead of Kia (the market’s fastest-growing volume brand this year, with 4662 last month to be up 26 per cent), Subaru (4641, up 15 per cent), Mercedes-Benz (4438, up 20 per cent) and Honda (4393, up 16 per cent).

Above: the Kia Stinger. Kia is Australia's fastest-growing volume brand this year. 

Way back in 12th for the month — its lowest placement in years — was Nissan, dropping 23 per cent to 4002. The Navara isn’t doing the volume it should be, and it’s too reliant on the X-Trail and Qashqai for sales in lieu of any passenger cars.

Other mainstream brands that grew over the course of the month included Isuzu Ute (2182, up 9.5 per cent), Land Rover (1097, up 6 per cent), Skoda (475, up 25 per cent), Chinese commercial brand LDV (211, up 74 per cent) and Alfa Romeo (95, up 83 per cent before the Stelvio SUV has even gone on sale).

Peugeot and Citroen’s new importer here, Inchcape, has also gotten off to a good start. Peugeot netted its best result in ages, 534, to be up a whopping 160 per cent, while Citroen managed 134 units to be up 86 per cent. C’est magnifique.

Manufacturers that didn’t perform too laudably included BMW and Audi, both of which continued their slumps to be down 21 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. Renault, Lexus, Jeep, Volvo Car, Mini, Porsche, Fiat and Jaguar also all fell notably for the month — see table below.

Above: BMW, along with Audi and a number of other European brands, had a tough September. See table below.


Top models for September 2017

One of the biggest news stories to emerge from this month’s figures was the Ford Ranger edging the Toyota HiLux to be the biggest-selling vehicle overall, with 4318 units compared to 3822. Both grew by double digits as you can read in the table below.

The Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3 small cars were next in line, with the soon-to-be-dead Australian-made Holden Commodore sedan and Sportwagon staying strong until the end in fifth spot.

Rounding out the top ten were the PD Hyundai i30, Australian-made (not anymore) Toyota Camry, Hyundai Tucson, Mitsubishi Outlander and Mazda CX-5.

The next ten were the Hyundai Accent, Mazda CX-3, Mitsubishi Triton, Volkswagen Golf, Kia Cerato, Mitsubishi ASX, Honda Civic, Isuzu D-Max, Toyota RAV4 and Mazda BT-50.

This means that, among the top 20-selling vehicles, five were utes, six were small cars, four were medium SUVs, two were small SUVs, one was a mid-sized sedan, one was a large sedan and one was a light car.

Key segments

SEGMENTGOLDSILVERBRONZE
Micro carKia Picanto 351Holden Spark 131Fiat 500/Abarth 83
Light car Hyundai Accent 1763Mazda 2 1312Toyota Yaris 790
Small carToyota Corolla 3055Mazda 3 2776Hyundai i30 2300
Medium carToyota Camry 2251Mercedes C-Class 910Mazda 6 370
Large carCommodore 2547Toyota Aurion 214Mercedes E-Class 164
People moverKia Carnival 511Honda Odyssey 145Toyota Tarago 71
Sports carFord Mustang 659Mercedes C-Class 242BMW 2 Series 151
Small SUVMazda CX-3 1762Mitsubishi ASX 1526Subaru XV 1173
Medium SUVHyundai Tucson 2220Mitsu Outlander 2021Mazda CX-5 1910
Large SUVToyota Kluger 1113Toyota Prado 1070Subaru Outback 913
VanToyota HiAce 609Hyundai iLoad 484Mercedes Sprinter 331
UteFord Ranger 4318Toyota HiLux 3822Mitsubishi Triton 1732

Miscellaneous stuff

Every State and Territory went backwards. NSW did best, to fall 0.7 per cent to 34,168 units, ahead of Victoria (down 2.3 per cent to 28,096), Queensland (down 2.7 per cent to 19,175) and WA (down 3.1 per cent to 8401).

Private sales accounted for volume of 45,322 units, ahead of business sales on 40,453, rentals on 7789 and government fleets on 3241.

There were 65,088 petrol-powered cars sold last month, compared to 35,112 diesels (60 per cent of which were commercial vehicles). There were only 907 hybrids sold, while EVs are hard to gauge because Tesla does not submit its numbers.

The biggest sources of vehicles were Japan (27,920), Thailand (25,251), South Korea (14,903), Germany (8217), Australia (5512), USA (3879), England (2899), Spain (1263) and Hungary (1218).


Quote

“Any month over 100,000 total sales has to be seen as a strong outcome, proving there is continued value for the consumer out in the market,” said FCAI CEO Tony Weber.

“To keep this outcome in perspective, it has to be remembered that the September results of 2015 and 2016 were both very strong, and both those years ended in records.”


Top 30 brands by sales for September

BRAND

SEPT SALES

% MONTHLY CHANGE

YTD SALES

Toyota

17,377

up 4 per cent

162,845

Mazda

10,328

down 14 per cent

89,863

Hyundai

8130

down 12.8 per cent

73,250

Mitsubishi

7065

up 5.4 per cent

59,407

Holden

6882

down 19.6 per cent

62,446

Ford

6845

down 6 per cent

60,465

Volkswagen

4901

up 11.9 per cent

42,563

Kia

4662

up 26.4 per cent

42,170

Subaru

4641

up 14.6 per cent

39,447

Mercedes-Benz

4438

up 20.4 per cent

32,888

Honda

4393

up 16.1 per cent

33,441

Nissan

4002

down 22.7 per cent

42,371

Isuzu Ute

2182

up 9.5 per cent

18,298

BMW

1906

down 21.3 per cent

18,906

Audi

1790

down 13.7 per cent

16,044

Suzuki

1575

down 5.1 per cent

14,710

Land Rover

1097

up 5.7 per cent

9575

Renault

903

down 13.3 per cent

8173

Lexus

637

down 9 per cent

6798

Jeep

629

down 32.5 per cent

6295

Peugeot

534

up 159.2 per cent

2088

Skoda

475

up 25 per cent

3976

Volvo Car

315

down 25.2 per cent

3484

Mini

300

down 16.4 per cent

3004

Porsche

265

down 52 per cent

3720

Fiat

233

down 25.8 per cent

2387

LDV

211

up 74.4 per cent

1698

Jaguar

167

down 48.3 per cent

2055

Citroen

134

up 86.1 per cent

486

Alfa Romeo

95

up 82.7 per cent

567


Top 20 models by sales for September

MAKE

MODEL

SALES

CHANGE

Ford

Ranger

4318

up 48.7 per cent

Toyota

HiLux

3822

up 19.1 per cent

Toyota

Corolla

3055

down 10.8 per cent

Mazda

3

2776

down 20.5 per cent

Holden

Commodore

2547

up 7.7 per cent

Hyundai

i30

2300 (2797 inc. Elantra)

down 16.1 per cent

Toyota

Camry

2251

up 12.1 per cent

Hyundai

Tucson

2220

up 0.5 per cent

Mitsubishi

Outlander

2021

up 80.6 per cent

Mazda

CX-5

1910

down 28.2 per cent

Hyundai

Accent

1763

down 19.5 per cent

Mazda

CX-3

1762

down 6.2 per cent

Mitsubishi

Triton

1732

down 22.9 per cent

Volkswagen

Golf

1592

up 24.2 per cent

Kia

Cerato

1588

up 34.5 per cent

Mitsubishi

ASX

1526

down 14.1 per cent

Honda

Civic

1497

up 50.3 per cent

Isuzu

D-Max

1470

up 5 per cent

Toyota

RAV4

1452

down 10.2 per cent

Mazda

BT-50

1376

up 1.1 per cent

 


Podcast

Listen to the CarAdvice team discuss September 2017 VFACTS below, and catch more like this at caradvice.com/podcast.

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