Utes carry vehicle sales to March record

Australia’s love affair with utes intensified last month, with three of the top-five vehicles sold here equipped with trays on the back.

The return of fleet buyers from their Christmas hiatus helped the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger regain the top-two positions, with 4245 and 3845 registrations respectively, with the Mitsubishi Triton (2670) overtaking the outgoing Hyundai i30 (2383) to claim fifth spot.

The figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show ute sales helped carry motor vehicle sales to a March record, with 105,410 vehicles sold in Australia last month, 898 more than the same period last year.

The sales spike was also due to the continued dominance of SUVs, which extended their lead over passenger cars and accounted for 39.4 percent of the total market.

High-rider numbers were up by more than 6000 since February to 41,484, increasing their newly-held lead over passenger vehicles from 757 to 3047.

FCAI CEO Tony Weber said the ratio between SUV and passenger vehicles appear to be becoming the new ‘norm’.

“Two months in succession of SUV sales leading the market is further confirmation of a trend we’ve been observing for some time,” said Weber.

“The SUV segment is now the dominant sector, whereas this time last year passenger cars led the market by around 10,000 sales. Clearly, the shift in market dynamics is accelerating.”

The Mazda CX-5 continued its reign as the top-selling SUV with 2116 sales, despite the all-new model being weeks away, with the Hyundai Tucson (2156) not far behind.

One loser was the Toyota RAV-4 (1865) which dropped out of the top-10 most popular vehicles, in part due to the initial success of its smaller CH-R stablemate which is selling well (403) despite limited availability.

One car that did manage to hang in there was the Holden Commodore, which remained the 10th biggest selling car thanks to a boost in sales, up from 1566 in February to 2081.

While the monthly bump is good news for Holden, it’s worth putting into perspective with year to date sales (5607) which are 8.6 percent down on last year.

Holden’s communications director Sean Poppitt told Wheels the demand for Commodore remained high but continued to fluctuate, adding that the company was heading in the right direction after a “soft February” but was “focused on doing better”.

“We’re seeing great momentum with Colorado – up year on year and with a much richer model mix – and Astra is growing with sales doubling each month since launch. We’re still not satisfied with Astra given what a cracking car it is, but with the sedan launching soon, we’re on the right path.

Trax also recorded its best ever first quarter result this year so while we’ve got a lot of work to do, plenty of positive trends,” said Poppitt.

Holden remained the fifth most popular brand in March behind Mitsubishi, whose recent success may well give the suits at Fisherman’s Bend further hope that there is indeed life after local production ends.

Top 10 brands, March 2017

1. Toyota - 19,652
2. Mazda - 10,472
3. Hyundai - 8700
4. Mitsubishi - 7583
5. Holden - 7211
6. Ford - 6852
7. Nissan - 5620
8. Volkswagen - 5122
9. Subaru - 5006
10. Kia - 4684

Top 10 selling cars, March 2017

1. Toyota Hilux - 4245
2. Ford Ranger - 3845
3. Toyota Corolla - 3574
4. Mazda3 - 3039
5. Mitsubishi Triton - 2670
6. Hyundai i30 - 2383
7. Toyota Camry - 2336
8. Hyundai Tucson - 2156
9. Mazda CX-5 - 2116
10. Holden Commodore - 2081