Hyundai i30 continues to dominate sales

Latest VFACTS figures show the Korean giant’s i30 hatch remains a winner with buyers.

AUSTRALIANS are on course to buy over 1.2 million new cars in 2016, with 598,140 vehicles sold in the first six months of the year.

The car market continues to grow, with overall sales cracking 128,569 for the month of June according to V-Facts. This is an increase of 2.2 percent on the same month last year, and with nearly 600,000 sold so far in 2016, it represents a 3.4 percent increase over the same period last year.

While the Hyundai i30 remains Australia’s bestselling car at the moment, Toyota continues to be the sales king, commanding 17.2 percent of total sales for the month of June, and 17.1 percent for the year so far – maintaining much the same performance from this time last year.

However, the battle between Mazda and Hyundai for runner-up rages on. A total of just 155 sales separated the pair last month: 12,455 for Mazda, and 12,300 for Hyundai.

While Mazda holds the advantage over Hyundai in total sales, the Korean manufacturer continues to be on a winner with its i30 small passenger car.

The Hyundai i30 made up a quarter of all sales in its segment, beating key rivals the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla by over 2000 cars rolling off showroom floors.

The 6,432 i30s sold in June is up 16.5 percent on what Hyundai achieved in the same month last year, and pushes its year to date performance to a 44.7 percent increase over its 2015 comparison.

Hyundai concedes its strong numbers for June is due to a concerted four-month-long marketing campaign.

“I think is what we have seen is people that have seen the offer in the previous three months have decided to jump in and grab a deal,” Hyundai spokesperson Bill Thomas told Wheels.

“It was a very strong result for i30, but the marketing said the deal had to end, and our dealers were aware that deal will end. We are expecting that our targets will be lower for the remaining months of the year. June is the biggest month of the year.”

Thomas confirmed the Korean manufacturer is still awaiting a new model to fill out its range.

“We are due a small SUV which is the gaping hole in our line-up at the moment – a CX3 rival,” he added.

“We are due that soon. We are expecting that next year, and I think that is going to help us.

“You can see the CX3 is doing very well and hit a chord with the Australian buyers. We understand that quite a few buyers are going from small cars like the Mazda3 and i30 to cars like the CX-3, so that is a very strong and growing segment that we are not playing in yet.

“But we are intending to fix that as soon as we can.”

Mazda sold 1,790 CX3s in June.

Despite being outsold by the i30, Toyota still controls the segment overall, with 18 percent of all passenger cars sold in June being made by the Japanese manufacturer.

It also controls the SUV segment, with 6186 sales of the high-riders giving it a 13.4-percent market share. Interestingly, Mitsubishi sits second despite an ageing lineup, with 4584 sales in June giving it a 10-percent share of the total sales for the month.

Toyota also claimed a win with the Toyota Hilux being the second most successful nameplate overall, behind the i30. The iconic ute sold 4613 models in June [4x2 and 4x4 combined figure sales].

Though down 3.8 percent on a year-to-date measure, passenger cars remain the highest-selling segment, with 41.9 percent of all cars sold this month falling into that bracket.

However, SUV sales continue to close the gap. SUVs made up 35.8 percent of sales in June, with a 2.7 percent increase on the first half sales of 2015.

However, Business car sales are the major contributor to this growth. Private sales, government sales, and rental sales are all down in regards to both monthly figures and year to date, while sales for businesses are up by 10.7-percent on the same month last year, and 15.8-percent on what was achieved in the first half of 2015.

One of the biggest losers in June is private electric passenger car sales, with just two all-electric vehicles (a pair of Nissan Leafs) rolling off showroom floors, bringing this year’s total to 36 Australia-wide (down 72.5-percent on YTD for 2015). Hybrid sales are also down in private passenger car sales, with 250 being shifted in June (down 37.2-percent on the same month last year).

The Ford Mustang continues its strong run, with 382 Mustangs delivered in June for a 28.7% share of its segment. This gives the pony car leadership of the Sports vehicles more than $80K Segment for the sixth month in a row.

Meanwhile, Holden is losing ground on its sales figures from last year, with 11,376 new car sales in June resulting in a 7.2-percent loss on year to date from 2015. The Holden Commodore is still the biggest seller, with 3054 sales in June a 10.2-percent increase on June 2015.

Dodge was the biggest loser of the month, with only 37 examples of its only model, the Journey, rolling off showroom floors. This is a 79.8-percent drop on the same month last year, and 62.9-percent loss in YTD figures compared to 2015.

Both Kia and Land Rover won big in June, with 5170, and 1339 sales this month a 41-percent, and 30.3-percent increase respectively.