April new car sales: Holden feels a different type of pain

AUSTRALIA’S new-car market came tantalisingly close to posting another record April last month, its 82,930 total falling just 206 sales shy of the benchmark.

The result was only 0.2 percent lower than the same month last year, which still leaves the 2018 tally 3.3 percent, or two cars shy of 12,000, ahead of last year’s record pace.

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After last month’s disastrous result for the brand, all eyes turn to Holden. The good bit is the Red Lion (4576) has improved its standings in the top 10 brands, rising to number six after falling to the bottom rung of March’s results. But it’s even more woe for the Holden Commodore, with 116 of the 587 total attributed to dwindling stocks of the locally built VFII, not the new German one. Do the numbers, and ZB mustered only 471 buyers, meaning it fell behind Astra (497), old stock of the Captiva (521) and the Captiva’s replacement, the Equinox (506) for the month.

If you need a measure of how much Holden must be hurting, Toyota sold 1038 of its now fully imported Camrys – the number is bolstered to 1114 once the legacy Aussie-made stock is added in.

Toyota was again the nation’s best-selling brand, cornering 16,647 sales for a 20.1 percent share of the new-car market. Helping it were Australia’s biggest-selling vehicle, the Hilux (3596), the second-placed Corolla (2979), the 10th-placed Prado (1699).

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Mazda (7723 sales, 9.3 percent share) placed second with the fourth-placed 3 (2261) and eighth-placed CX-5 (1725) helping its fortunes. Hyundai (7132, 8.6%) finished April third, the i30 (1903) and Tucson (1816) blocking out sixth and seventh spots respectively. Mitsubishi (5508, 6.6%) claimed fourth spot as its ASX (1706) claimed ninth spot in the top 10, while Ford (4822, 5.8%) rounded out the top five, its Ranger (2796) claiming third spot on the bestseller’s list.

All of the market’s heat came from SUVs, which finished the month with 36,159 sales – 4791 sales ahead of where they finished in the same month last year. Passenger cars (27,553) and light commercial vehicles (16,087) both went backwards.

Even though it claimed two in every five sales in the sports cars costing less than $80,000 segment, the Ford Mustang (381) hit the lowest sales number it has seen since May last year. The only reason it did so relatively well is because the whole segment struggled, falling to just 809 units. What’s the matter, aren’t we rewarding ourselves anymore?

Ninth-placed Honda struggled. Even though it had improved on April last year, month on month the Japanese carmaker had one to forget, sliding more than 2500 sales to 3017. Every single model – the Accord, City, Civic, CR-V, HR-V, Jazz and Odyssey – was comprehensively kicked in the guts.

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A similar sentiment must have been hanging around the Adelaide-based boardroom at Mitsubishi (5508), where month-on-month sales slid around 3300 units. Leading the fall were the Pajero Sport (323) and its regular strong-selling staple, the Triton (1055).

With just 3028 sales for the month, Nissan’s struggles were headlined by sharp falls for the Qashqai (625) and X-Trail (1103), neither of which pulled a top 10 effort this time around.

Subaru’s “do” became a “doh!” as a small month-on-month fall in buyers across all but the Liberty accumulated just 4017 sales for the brand, more than 1000 off the pace. But it did do better than in April last year.

Land Rover (733) likewise struggled to lure buyers. Only its luxury-laden Range Rover (25) posted positive sales, causing it to fall well off the pace of fellow regular top 20 bottom-dweller Lexus (830).

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Special mention goes to Ferrari, which notched up another 21 sales in April. Its total for the first four months of the year now stands at 81, meaning its numbers have swelled by almost 40 percent compared with the same time last year. Where’s the Bollinger?

TOP 20 SELLERS IN APRIL

RANKVEHICLE APR ’18 APR ’17

1. Toyota Hilux 3596 3430
2. Toyota Corolla 2979 2555
3. Ford Ranger 2796 3120
4. Mazda 3 2261 2313
5. Hyundai i30 1903 1979
6. Hyundai Tucson 1816 1530
7. Mazda CX-5 1725 2166
8. Mitsubishi ASX 1706 1451
9. Toyota Prado 1699 1301
10. Holden Colorado 1491 1824
11. Toyota RAV4 1444 1389
12. Volkswagen Golf 1371 1199
13. Mitsubishi Triton 1334 1384
14. Kia Cerato 1322 1490
15. Mazda CX-3 1172 1195
16. Hyundai Accent 1160 1186
17. Isuzu Ute D-Max 1156 1246
18. Subaru XV 1139 411
19. Toyota Camry 1114 1885
20. Nissan X-Trail 1103 730

TOP 10 BRANDS IN APRIL

RANKBRAND APR ’18 SHARE (%)

1 Toyota 16,647 20.1
2 Mazda 7723 9.3
3 Hyundai 7132 8.6
4 Mitsubishi 5508 6.6
5 Ford 4822 5.8
6 Holden 4576 5.5
7 Kia 4502 5.4
8 Volkswagen 3918 4.7
9 Nissan 3028 3.7
10 Honda 3017 3.6