We have now completed the first quarter of the year and the new vehicle sales results are out. Here some of the more noticeable changes in the industry, though some you will have expected.
YTD Sales in Australia
Up 4.4% on 2017 to 291,538
All states have positive growth except for NSW (-2.6%), TAS (-2.2%) and SA (-.9%)
The strongest growth state was NT (12.8%)
In passenger vehicles the SUV was still the strongest growth at 10.9%
Some of the Biggest Brand winners and losers:
Holden: -22.8% to 15,524 units
Honda: +54.8% to 15,129 units
Hyundai: +5.2% to 23,568 units
Isuzu Ute: +31.9% to 5,928 units
Kia: +10.9% to 14,279 units
Mazda: -2.3% to 29,749 units
Mitsubishi: +15.2% to 21,215 units
Nissan: +4.7% to 15,761 units
Subaru: +4.6% to 13,349 units
Toyota: +8.1% to 52,465 units
Ford: -.2% to 18,391 units
Hybrid vehicles:
YTD sales in the private sector are up 301 units or 69.6%
YTD in the non-private sector are down 174 units or -8.4%
Some of the biggest selling increase by vehicle type:
Holden Astra: +77.7% to 2,727 units
Honda Civic: +67.3% to 4,166 units
VW Golf: +20.2% to 4,885 units
Kia Carnival: +24.7% to 1,483 units
Kia Picanto: +43.5% to 1,184 units
Honda Jazz: +24.1% to 2,280 units
Hyundai Accent: +16.3% to 4,430 units
Kia Rio: +28.1% to 1,674 units
Suzuki Swift: +90.1% to 2,135 units
Mercedes Benz A-Class: +34.6% to 1,547 units
Toyota C-HR: +193.8% to 2,124 units
Ford Escape: +31.1% to 1,382 units
Honda CRV: +183.8% to 4,538 units
Nissan X-Trail: +15% to 5,794 units
Mazda CX-5: +10.6% to 6,604 units
Mitsubishi Outlander: +26.9% to 3,995 units
Toyota RAV4: +11.8% to 5,573 units
Audi Q5: +78.3% to 1,173 units
BMW X3: +74.4% to 1,498 units
Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class: +50.6% to 1,209 units
Ford Everest: +57.7% to 1,400 units
Isuzu Ute MU-X: +28.6% to 1,976 units
Toyota Kluger: +41.6% to 3,461 units
Toyota Prado: +10.7% to 4,169 units
Isuzu ute D-Max 4x2: +61.5% to 1,190 units
Toyota Hilux 4x2: +13.9% to 3,273
Ford Ranger 4x4: +17.9% to 9,457 units
Isuzu ute D-Max 4x4: +24.4% to 2,762 units
Mitsubishi Triton 4x4: +13% to 5,735 units
Nissan Navara 4x4: +28.7% to 4,043 units
Toyota Hilux 4x4: +25.5% to 9,361 units
Toyota Landcruiser PU/CC: +19.4% to 2,157 units
Country of Build
Finally, our last fact for this first quarter is the sad but expected fact that vehicle production in Australia has dropped 75.5% YTD compared to last year, with us producing 3,214 of the 291,538 vehicles sold.
China was up 64% to 1,727 units and Japan, our largest importer was up 8.6% to 89,614 units.
The evidence of import numbers suggests to us that the wages factor in Australia which is so often blamed for the loss of manufacturing industries, is not the key factor in the vehicle industry, with reasonably high wage countries like Japan, Korea, and Germany imports all on the up.
We would suggest that other factors like distance to market, local volume consumed and technology expenditure was much more likely for the almost complete withdrawal of vehicle manufacturers from Australia. We would even suggest the reason we lost our vehicle manufacturing industry was the failure of governments to identify the true reasons behind the cost of manufacturing in Australia and in failing to do so the plowing of billions of taxpayer dollars into the wrong pockets.
Salary Packaging
If you are an employee this is the cheapest possible way to buy a car.
It is also a fantastic way to keep your budgets in check with your income.
No more worrying about vehicle expenses.
Learn More
Get a fast ONLINE Quote now for your finance