VFACTS: Toyota HiLux stands tall

IF TOYOTA’S all-conquering HiLux was a motor company, it would have finished 11th on the Australian new-vehicle sales charts last month after achieving a record 5787 sales in the annual June end-of-financial-year sellathon.

 

The top three sellers in the land were all pick-ups, with the Ford Ranger (4768 sales) and Mitsubishi Triton (3919) filling the next two slots after the HiLux.

 

Despite this, light-commercial vehicle sales increased just 0.3 per cent over the same month last year, and not even 9.3 per cent growth in SUV sales could save the overall market from a 2.9 per cent stumble, down to 130,300 vehicles.

 

Once again, the market was held back by declining passenger car sales, down a whopping 17.9 per cent in June – a decline of more than 9000 units in a single month – as buyers continue the swing to SUVs.

 

For the first time, combined sales of medium SUVs have moved ahead of small cars on a year-to-date basis, 109,034 to 108,049.

 

But despite a slide in June, overall vehicle sales are still running ahead of last year’s pace at the halfway mark, up 1.0 per cent, to 605,522 vehicles, and on track for another million-plus year.

 

With HiLux in its corner, market leader Toyota thumped all comers, recording 23,171 sales in June.

 

This was a decline of 5.6 per cent over June last year but still among the best months on record for the Japanese brand that always takes full value out of June sales with its business and fleet connections.

 

Apart from HiLux, Toyota had two other vehicles in the top 10 – Corolla was the top-selling passenger car, with 3780 sales, and RAV4 (2690) was the second-ranked SUV behind Mazda’s CX-5 (3136).

 

Mazda effectively marked time in June, selling 12,469 vehicles – down 0.3 per cent.

 

Third-placed Hyundai did not fare so well, declining 14.8 per cent year on year, to 10,436 vehicles, despite a strong performance from its best seller, the i30 small car (3547, +2.2%).

 

Hyundai was hit by a hefty drop in sales of several of its mainstream models, including Tucson – down 46.5 per cent to 2000 units – Elantra (498, -35.6%) and Accent (1522, -18.8%).

 

Some of these sales might have been cannibalised by the new Kona small SUV that picked up a healthy 1317 sales for the month.

 

Among the big winners in June were Mitsubishi, Kia and Honda, all of which zoomed up the sales charts with record-busting performances.

 

Mitsubishi eclipsed 10,000 sales for the first time, notching 10,232 units for the month. Outlander and ASX both had their best month on record, while the Triton recorded 3919 sales, up 19 per cent.

 

Kia’s record 7067 sales just outpaced Honda’s 7013 units. The Kia Cerato piled on 2485 sales, as the superseded sedan was run out with attractive offers, but several other mainstream models, including the Sportage, Sorrento and Rio, took a hit.

 

Honda’s CR-V enjoyed the best month in its history, its 2232 sales up a staggering 376 per cent on last June’s 469 units, smashing an 18-year-old record. The smaller HR-V also finished the month in new territory, up 9.6 per cent on the corresponding month last year, to 1760 units.

 

The big losers again last month were former local manufacturers Holden and Ford.

 

Holden’s new imported Commodore again struggled to find sales traction, with Commodore sales of 1159 representing a 43.6 decline. That fall might have been even worse except for a contribution of 253 left-over locally made cars as Holden dealers continue to run out old stock.

 

Ford outsold Holden in June – just – but its 7492 sales was a drop of 15.4 per cent over the same month in 2017.

 

Ford’s best sellers – the Ranger pick-up and Mustang sportscar both slipped. Ranger sales were down almost 200 units, to 4858, in the face of stiff opposition, while Mustang – in the middle of a changeover to an updated model – slumped by 50 per cent, down to 635 units.

 

Nissan sales were slightly down on June last Year (6604, -1.3%), as were Volkswagen’s (6334, -1.8%). The latter was buoyed by record sales of the Tiguan (1340), thanks to the arrival of the new seven-seat Allspace version, and the Amarok ute (1250).

Top 10 selling brands June 2018

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