April 2011 new vehicle sales figures analysis
April has been a slow month for new vehicle sales with an 8.8 percent decline compared with the same time last year. In total, 72,214 vehicles were sold in April and the minor decline has been attributed to the timing of the ANZAC Day, Easter and school holidays.
Toyota was once again the dominant brand, however its market share fell from more than 20 percent in April 2010 to 18.4 percent. The Corolla also slumped in the small car segment finishing fourth behind Mazda3, Holden Cruze and Hyundai i30.
The big winner this month was Hyundai which came in third place ahead of Ford and Mazda, thanks to particularly strong performances by Getz, ix35, i45 and i30. Ford managed to keep Mazda in fifth, however sales of its iconic Falcon dropped to just 1,457 units. Compared with April 2010, it's a significant drop of 1,306 units.
Mercedes-Benz beat BMW while Lexus sales went down marginally. The new Lexus CT 200h found 175 buyers in April, beating the Mini Cooper and Audi A1. Chinese car makers Great Wall (711 units) and new-comer Chery (165) continued to prove that cut-throat pricing is still a great marketing strategy.
Saab also saw 17 vehicles blip on the radar with the brand's relaunch into Australia now well underway. Despite the premium price tag, Mercedes-Benz managed to sell more medium-sized cars (C-Class models) than almost anyone (excluding Toyota with the Camry).
The Hyundai ix35 performed exceptionally well coming very close to knocking of the ever-popular Subaru Forester from the compact SUV winner's list.
A few companies did noticeably better this April compared to last, especially Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Volkswagen. As for the losers, Ford's market share went down from 10.1 to 8.7 April to April, while Toyota suffered a similar drop. Holden was the only one of the big three that improved its market share over this period.
Year to date both Toyota and Holden have lost around one percent market share but Ford has kept about on par. Honda's sales have once again declined with the company going from four percent market share this time last year to 3.1 year-to-date in 2011.
For a more complete breakdown, click here.
0
