Mazda 3 hits back as Australia’s top-seller in January

AUSTRALIA’S new-car market is off to a slow start, treading water in January as the top contenders for last year’s best-selling line honours continued to trade blows.

New vehicle registrations fell a negligible 0.2 percent compared with January last year, the latest VFACTS figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show, with 82,116 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles sold in the month compared with last year’s 82,285.

Mazda’s city hatchback, the 3, took out top honours for the month after finishing runner-up to the Toyota Corolla last year. The Mazda sold 3903 for the first month of the year, ahead of the Corolla with 3472. That’s a lead of 431 cars over just 31 days; a bigger gap than where the pair finished in 2014, with the Toyota a mere 422 cars ahead of the Mazda for the year.

The Hyundai i30 was third, a long way back with 2092 sales, ahead of the Holden Cruze (1970), which topped Commodore (1784) as the hottest-selling Holden.

It was SUVs, with overall growth of 6.9 percent that kept the overall market firm. The high-riding wagons now make up a 33.7 percent chunk of the Australian market. The top-selling SUV was again the Mazda CX-5, continuing its 2014 form with 1699 sales, closely followed by the Hyundai ix35 (1636) that’s due for replacement later this year.

Ute sales continued to be strong, despite a slowing of the mining boom, led by the Toyota Hilux (2331) and Ford Ranger (1784). Including all vehicle types, the Hilux was the third-best seller nationwide for January.

Sadly, the Ford Falcon continues its downward trend, with 381 sales ranking it in 51st spot, or 59th if commercials are included. Even compared with 2014, it’s already down nearly 18 percent, with Holden’s Commodore Ute alone (387) enough to outsell the Falcon sedan.

Despite a strong start by the locally made Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid (1133), and its larger Aurion sibling (241), the three local carmakers’ share of the overall market slid a further 2.8 percent in January compared with the market’s start to last year.

Overall, 6574 Australian-made vehicles made their way out of showrooms in January, down 187 sales last year. Toyota increased sales of locally made cars by 16 percent for the month, while Holden’s Cruze and Commodore sales slid 4.4 percent. Combined with the Ford Territory (down 6.2 percent to 639 sales for the month), Ford Australia’s local sales fell 14.2 percent.

TOP 10 PASSENGER CAR SALES - January 2015

1. Mazda 3 (3903) -14.4%
2. Toyota Corolla (3472) +19.1%
3. Hyundai i30 (2092) -15.8%
4. Holden Cruze (1870) +34.1%
5. Holden Commodore (1784) -24.5%
6. Mazda CX-5 (1699) -8.3%
7. Hyundai ix35 (1636) +9.4%
8. VW Golf (1538) -1.2%
9. Toyota RAV4 (1401) -0.2%
10. Mazda 2 (1391) +17.5%