German cars overtake Australian-made

Australians bought more German-made cars in 2016 than they did locally-produced ones, reflecting shifts away from large cars and towards imported vehicles, especially luxury models.

According to figures supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), of the 1,178,333 new vehicles sold in 2016, , 87,392 were sourced from Germany, just ahead of the 87,096 Australian-made cars.

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Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Porsche all posted record sales in Australia, with growth ranging from 5.1 percent to 13.3 percent. It comes off the back of a record year for luxury brands in which almost all posted growth ahead of the 2.0 percent growth experienced by the overall market.

Not all cars from those brands are built in Germany* but there are more than enough to pump sales to record levels, cementing Germany as the fourth-largest source of vehicles sold in Australia, behind Japan (325,689), Thailand (285,465) and Korea (162,642).

Volkswagen was the most prominent German brand to experience a sales drop, off the back of the runout for its Tiguan mid-sized SUV; sales of 56,571 meant it was Australia’s best-selling German brand, but VW’s tally for the year was down 6.1 percent compared to 2015.

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Of course, a large part of the reason for German cars overtaking Australian ones is the demise of the Australian car industry. Ford closed its manufacturing facilities late last year, while Toyota and Holden will shut theirs later this year.

While the Holden Commodore and Toyota Camry were still in the list of top 10 selling vehicles, each saw a drop in sales – and sales of every Australian-made car slid in 2016 too.

But there’s no doubt luxury is booming.

The chief executive of the FCAI, Tony Weber, puts it down to a number of factors, including general economic prosperity and a broader range of luxury models on offer.

“Luxury brands have more affordable vehicles in the market than they had in the past,” said Weber. “It’s also got to do with the wealth of people in the nation; we’re now in our 25th year of economic growth.”

Weber also pointed to the personalisation available on luxury models, which allows people to customise a car to their tastes.

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Clearly the growth in German vehicles was driven by demand for luxury models, something not limited to one country.

Other luxury brands also experienced impressive sales growth in 2016; Bentley was up 20.3 percent, Ferrari up 12.6 percent, Jaguar up 132.8 percent, Land Rover up 14.4 percent, Lexus up 3.9 percent, Lamborghini up 51.2 percent, McLaren up 158.3 percent, Rolls-Royce up 23.3 percent and Volvo up 18.9 percent.

Only a handful of luxury brands experienced sales drops in 2016. Maserati was down 6.9 percent, Aston Martin down 11.5 percent, Lotus down 35.4 percent and Alfa Romeo down 54.9 percent,

Sales of German brands in 2016*

Audi - 24,258 +5.1%

BMW - 28,028 +12.0%

Mercedes-Benz - 41,226 +13.3%

Porsche - 4434 +8.4%

Volkswagen - 56,571 -6.1%

Sales of luxury models in 2016

Alfa Romeo - 711 -54.9%

Audi - 24,258 +5.1%

Bentley - 190 +20.3%

BMW - 28,028 +12.0%

Ferrari - 188 +12.6%

Jaguar - 3008 +132.8%

Lamborghini - 127 +51.2%

Land Rover - 13,597 +14.4%

Lexus - 9027 +3.9%

Lotus - 31 -35.4%

Maserati - 483 -6.9%

McLaren - 93 +158.3%

Mercedes-Benz - 41,226 +13.3%

Mini - 3765 +12.7%

Porsche - 4434 +8.4%

Rolls-Royce - 37 +23.3%

Volvo - 5878 +18.9%

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries

* Many German car makers source vehicles from countries outside Germany