SUV Sales Lead to Another Record Month
November 5, 2007 by George Skentzos
A dramatic growth in the sale of SUVs has contributed to record motor vehicle sales this October, beating the previous record set in 2004 by over 8000.
Official figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has shown that the number of vehicles sold this October has risen by 9359 or 11.9 percent compared to the same month last year to a total of 89,289 vehicles.
The year-to-date combined sales figure is now up 70,000 or 8.6 percent as it continues toward its million-plus sales forecast.
FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar relates these figures toward rising SUV sales, which jumped 27.5 percent, with year-to-date figures up by almost 22,000 vehicles.
“After a decline in 2006, the SUV market has rebounded strongly as brands have launched new generation models – in many cases featuring enhanced economy and versatility,” Mr McKellar said.
A slight dip in passenger car sales in September was negated by improved sales during October.
The small and light car segments grew by 8.3 and 11.5 percent respectively, contributing to an additional 10,028 and 8946 respective yearly sales.
The large family car segment remained steady, down 0.8 percent compared to last year, although yearly sales are still up by 5414 or 4.8 per cent.
Despite overall strength in sales, these figures highlight the difficult competitive situation facing local car manufacturers, noted Mr McKellar.
“The combined market share of Australian-manufactured vehicles dipped to just over 17 per cent last month,”
Toyota was the best-selling brand in October, its total of 20,212 beating the combined sales of second placed Holden (11,415) and Ford (8206).
Year to date Toyota now leads Holden by 71,360 sales.
Print it: 
Another win for Toyota, seems the beast is not going to stop anytime soon.
yeah it will take a bit to pull back that amount of sales from toyota.
it will be an interesting next 5yrs i reckon
Don’t see the need for behemoth SUV’s on road. Sure, maybe it’s related to a rise in young families, but with fuel prices being what they are, I would have thought the petrol SUV would be in decline.
The sales hike is probably due to the fantastic Captiva diesel.
Those are very impressive, and the diesel is only $1000 dearer than the petrol.
Toyota’s Rav thingy had to be withdrawn from sale, due to crappy engine. Must be loaded with killer pistons, that engine.
No idea what caused the Rav4 withdraw and whether it’s back on sale now. The dual VVT-i 2GR-FE 3.5L V6 used in the Rav4 is so common in Toyota’s range now – Aurion, Kluger, Tarago.
One would wonder why only the Rav4 has a problem.
Brand – Month – Year – Month % – Year % – Last Month
1. Toyota – 20,212 – 195,078 – 22.6 – 22.4 – 1st
2. Holden – 11,415 – 123,718 – 12.8 – 14.2 – 2nd
3. Ford – 8,206 – 89,875 – 9.2 – 10.3 – 3rd
4. Mazda – 7,271 – 64,929 – 8.1 – 7.4 – 4th
5. Mitsubishi – 5,233 – 53,798 – 5.9 – 6.2 – 5th
6. Honda – 5,106 – 51,134 – 5.7 – 5.9 – 7th
7. Hyundai – 4,639 – 40,100 – 5.2 – 4.6 – 8th
8. Nissan – 4,464 – 50,406 – 5.0 – 5.8 – 6th
9. Subaru – 3,341 – 32,143 – 3.7 – 3.7 – 9th
10. Volkswagen – 2,227 – 22,795 – 2.5 – 2.6 – 10th
11. Mercedes – 2,150 – 16,193 – 2.4 – 1.9 – 12th
12. Kia – 2,021 – 17,135 – 2.3 – 2.0 – 13th
13. Suzuki – 1,963 – 18,144 – 2.2 – 2.1 – 11th
14. BMW – 1,586 – 14,074 – 1.8 – 1.6 – 14th
15. Lexus – 1,106 – 7,090 – 1.2 – 0.8 – 15th (Lexus Rocked!)
Top Australian Vehicles October 2007
Vehicle – Month
1. Holden Commodore – 4,440
2. Toyota Corolla – 4,123
3. Toyota Hilux Ute – 3,752
4. Mazda 3 – 3,125
5. Toyota Yaris – 2,486
6. Ford Falcon – 2,439
7. Toyota Camry – 1,994
8. Hyundai Getz – 1,896
9. Toyota Aurion – 1,831
10. Mitsubishi Lancer – 1,446
11. Holden Rodeo Ute – 1,467
12. Honda Civic – 1,409
13. Ford Ranger Ute – 1,369
14. Toyota Rav4 SUV – 1,293
15. Honda CR-V SUV – 1,291
16. Toyota Prado SUV – 1,273
17. Suzuki Swift – 1,197
18. Mazda 2 – 1,193
19. Ford Territory SUV – 1,190
=20. Subaru Forester SUV – 1,173
=20. Toyota Kluger SUV – 1,173
22. Holden Astra – 1,118
23. Mitsubishi 380 – 1,100
24. Holden Captiva SUV – 1,093
25. Nissan Tiida – 1,087
26. Nissan Navara Ute – 1,071
27. Mazda BT-50 Ute – 1,066
=28. Nissan X-Trail SUV – 1,056
=28. Holden Barina – 1,056
30. Subaru Impreza – 1,040
All cars, where did you get those figures?
i ask because it actually doesnt show “all cars”
Great more bitumen burners that are pseudo pretend 4WD with no hi / lo range just used on black top to cart kids around and do errands. Hate pulling up beside these as higher and block ya view! If it was a drink for real 4WD’ers – Claytons or Liptons Tea
Not to mention Crude Oil is at all time highs (petrol rarely gets cheaper from current levels) and fact is SUV’s guzzle more – nice cars some, but me thinks pretty dumb on hip pocket and environment and many people BLIND to that!
Andrew M, the stats All Cars posted are from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, fcai.com.au/
Great, more kid killers on the road to block my view.
I don’t see the point to these soft-roaders??!!
If they want a road going car, in which they can sit upright, they should get a van or a people mover…
To go on a serious offroad trip in one of these is plain right dangerous…
Not all SUVs are massive and block your view. The Compact ones are.. actually quite small – i.e. only 15cm taller than your Commodore. They are perceived to be bigger as most are shorter as well. That said our “massive” SUV gets better fuel economy than a Camry, can carry 7 people if needed and is definitely carry more junk at the back from IKEA.
Would have prefered a people mover but those are too big to go up our slope (it’s a 3 in 1 incline) and too long for the mrs. to judge where the back ends.
Bah, in other words I don’t approve of people driving the big gas guzzlers but the small ones aren’t so bad. What can you do when society is more affluent and is going down the a similar path to the US?
I don’t see the point of ’softroaders’ myself.
They…
Are more expensive to buy
more expensive to own
fuel costs
tyres
servicing
weigh more
their basic handling dynamics aren’t as good
Why not simply buy sedan or hatch with the same platform they share!?
too many people buy thses vehicles without needing the minute flexibility they unltimatley offer over a platform sharing sedan, wagon or hatch.
people winge about wanting better fuel consumption with high fuel prices yet buy vehicles like these that consume more fuel when there are much smarter choices available!?
Got me beat.
The Holden Captiva SUV had a record sales month. The Captiva diesel is a run-away best seller, Holden are struggling to keep up with demand.