News: CarAdvice Outlines Australia’s Car Trends for Q1 2016

Sydney, Australia – April 8 2016 - CarAdvice.com.au, Australia’s leading independent source of automotive media content, has outlined the country’s automotive trends for the first quarter of the year. The VFACTS summary details the numbers, shifts and gives us a look at the car brands selling the most and the brands that have seen a decline in sales. One of the biggest insights in this report is the record increase in car sales, up 2.8 per cent with 285,328 models added to the market, meaning Australia is currently on track for its biggest year of new car sales on record.
 
For Q1 of 2016, SUVs continue to be the popular choice for Aussie drivers, as they now make up 38 per cent of market after sales went up by 13.8 per cent. Passenger cars on the other hand have seen a downslide of 8 per cent, with a market share of 41.5 per cent. The fastest-growing segments YTD are Medium SUVs (24.5 per cent up) and people-movers which are up by 23.2 per cent. Micro Car sales are down by 31.3 per cent, making them the fastest shrinking segment YTD. Light, Small, Medium and Large cars are all also down by between 6.6 and 15 per cent.
 
Over the first three months of the year, Toyota has held onto its spot as number one in the Australian market with 46,493 sales, which is a 5.1 per cent decline from last year’s numbers. Mazda came in second with 30,449, up 7.7 per cent and Hyundai, Holden and Ford follow. Ford has reversed an 11-year sales decline and was actually the fastest growing brand in Q1, with 8,641 models sold, taking them up by 13.7 per cent and putting them in fifth place.
 
James Ward, Associate Publisher at CarAdvice said “Ford has turned around its fortunes of late, on the back of a strong product line up. It now has the right cars in the right segments that appeal to Australian buyers. The best examples of this are the hugely popular Ranger, its SUV stablemate, the Everest, and, more recently, the release of the new Mustang has given Ford a much needed boost in popularity.
 
Another brand that is on a roll at the moment is Mercedes Benz. The luxury carmaker managed to beat out brands like Honda and Kia to regain its spot in the top 10.
“Mercedes-Benz continue its success following a strategy to broaden its product range and make the luxury brand more accessible to a wider segment of Australia’s status conscious market,” said Ward.
 
On the other hand, Jeep's sales are continuing to decline (down 50.1% on last year). The American brand’s past success was attributed to successful branding campaigns and a favourable exchange rate. With 3787 vehicles sold in Q1 2016, Jeep has now been surpassed by brands such as Land Rover, which sold 4093 vehicles (up 49.8 per cent).
 
By car model, the Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla lead the pack, even though their sales are down. The Toyota HiLux, Hyundai i30 and Ford Ranger round up the top 5. Diesel sales, totaling 95,820, make up one third of the market, while hybrid cars make up for less than 1 per cent with 2591 sales. As Tesla doesn’t publish its sales numbers in Australia, it is difficult to estimate the percentage of electric cars sold.
 
In terms of vehicle sources, the majority of Australia’s vehicles come in from Japan with 82,330 models, which is a 1 per cent decline from the last report. Thailand added 67,025 cars to Australia’s roads, going up 13.1 per cent. 35,958 of the cars brought in were Korean (up 17.5 per cent). Germany with 21,346 (down 1.8 percent) and Australia with 18,0009 follow (down 20.4 per cent).
 
March 2016 saw NSW’s boom continue with a 6.5 per cent increase in registrations. The month also saw a record high in terms of sales, mostly due to the end of the Japanese financial year; though interestingly the highest selling model of the month, the Hyundai i30 isn’t Japanese. The Korean brand has strong factory drive away deals to thank for that.
 
March’s fastest-growing segment was Medium SUVs which went up 12.9 per cent to 14,769, making this type of vehicle, led by the Mazda CX-5, the second most popular, after small cars like the Toyota Corolla and the Mazda 3. The most drastic declines belong to micro cars (down 24.8 per cent) and light cars (down 18 per cent).
 
 
Top 10 makes for Q1 2016

1. Toyota (46,493, down 5.1 per cent)
2. Mazda (30,449, up 7.7 per cent)
3. Hyundai (24,402 (up 3.3 per cent)
4. Holden (22,519, down 9.1 per cent)
5. Ford (18,641, up 13.7 per cent)
6. Mitsubishi (18,207, up 9.5 per cent)
7. Nissan (17,363, down 1.7 per cent)
8. Volkswagen (14,579, down 1.6 per cent)
9. Subaru (11,768, up 13.9 per cent)
10. Mercedes-Benz (10,063, up 14.1 per cent)

 
Top 10 models, Q1 2016

1. Mazda 3 (10,221)
2. Toyota Corolla (9825)
3. Toyota HiLux (9499)
4. Hyundai i30 (8511)
5. Ford Ranger (8033)
6. Mazda CX-5 (6158)
7. Holden Commodore (6132)
8. Mitsubishi Triton (6104)
9. Hyundai Tucson (5183)
10. Volkswagen Golf (5033)