Mazda outsells Holden for the first time

AUSTRALIA’S biggest full-line importer, Mazda Australia, outsold local manufacturer GM Holden for the first time last month, according to unofficial early retail sales figures circulated by car companies.

With about 7680 sales in April, Mazda appears to have grabbed second place behind long-time leader Toyota, moving ahead of Holden, whose sales slumped almost 17 per cent to about 7590 units, mainly due to depressed Commodore sales and a lack of Colorado ute stock ahead of a new model next month.

Toyota sales slipped from 18,466 last April to about 16,400 last month, but it achieved a market share of about 20 per cent – up on its 18.9 per cent for the first three months of 2012.

Although official VFACTS figures will not be released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries until tomorrow, the overall market appears to have taken an eight per cent hit, with sales falling from about 81,000 in April last year to 74,000 last month.

Apart from Holden, losers last month appear to have been Ford – down about 2.5 per cent to about 6300 sales – and Mitsubishi, which has dropped a whopping 29 per cent.

From top: Ford Falcon EcoBoost, Holden Cruze hatch and Toyota Aurion.

Big winners appear to be Mazda (up 20 per cent), Kia (up 25 per cent) and Subaru (up 22 per cent).

Mazda’s new CX-5 compact SUV was a success for the second month running, again achieving about 1400 units to help drive Mazda into second place on the sales ladder.

Hyundai appears to have come fourth again behind Toyota, Mazda and Holden, with Ford again trailing in fifth place.

Ford’s four-cylinder EcoBoost Falcon came too late in the month to help much with sales of the locally made large car, with Ford reporting only 1008 Falcon sedan sales – its second-worst month this year after January, when the Australian fleet industry is traditionally on holiday.

Holden’s rival Commodore appears to have recorded its lowest non-January result with only about 2200 sales and was outsold by stablemate Cruze, which achieved about 2300 sales.

Holden sold only about 200 Colorados last month, compared with more than 700 in the same month last year.