Introduction
Mustang sold 267 in May and this is down 39.4% on the year to date numbers for last year, no doubt caused by the run out of stock before the new (and much improved) model arrives later this year.
The Commodore looks to be nearing the end of run out but sales of the ‘new’ model improved to 1,040 units (801 less than in 2017) while the Aurion sold 14 as it also fades away.
For the year to date the total passenger market is up by 1.77% or 7,814 units and although May sales were better than April, the overall rate of growth has slowed on a year to date basis.
The top sellers for this month see some significant changes amongst passenger vehicles. The Toyota Corolla (3,120) retained the segment lead ahead of the Hyundai i30 (2,779) which took 2<sup>nd</sup> place from the Mazda 3 (2,586). The Mazda CX-5 (2,382) gained two places into 4<sup>th</sup>; Toyota RAV 4 (2,063) gained three places to 5<sup>th</sup>; Mitsubishi ASX (2,029) dropped one place to 6<sup>th</sup>; VW Golf (1,951) gained two spot to 7<sup>th</sup>; Kia Cerato (1,843) gained two places to 8<sup>th</sup>; Hyundai Tucson (1,839) dropped five places to 9<sup>th</sup> and the Toyota Prado (1,712) dropped three spots to round out the Top Ten.
Worth noting: the Nissan Quashqai and Holden Commodore both gained eight places but they were just clawing back ground lost last month while the Hyundai Accent and Subary XV both lost six places.
If we were to include the 4x4 Utes in the listing, then the Toyota Hilux comes in at 2<sup>nd</sup> overall; the Ford Ranger is 3<sup>rd</sup>; the Mitsubishi Triton is 12<sup>th</sup> and the Holden Colorado takes 14<sup>th</sup> place. No Ford models made it inside the Top 25 and sixteen of the Top 25 come from the one of the SUV categories.
The Large segment gained market share to 1.49% of the market in May but it has still dropped 47.66% (5,131 units) in volume compared to 2017.
The top selling passenger vehicle sales are shown below:
.. and the same chart with the 4x4 Utes included:
The chart below looks at the large segment slide in comparison to the Light (Fiesta), Small (Focus) and Medium (Mondeo) segments during the last ten years – from a dominant position to almost at the bottom.
Ute 4x2
The Falcon Ute is gone now and won’t be included in future charts except where historically appropriate. Ranger sales were steady with 498 sold during the month, 187 less than the same time last year.
The Ford Ranger (down 4.8%) remained in 2<sup>nd</sup> place this month behind the Toyota Hilux (1,200) but in front of the Isuzu Ute D-Max (452), Mazda BT-50 (478) and Nissan Navara (261), all unchanged except the Navara which is up one place.
For 2018 YTD the segment is now down 3.6% (591 units) and it held a slightly smaller 3.59% of the market.
4x4 Utes
The 4x4 Utes held a more normal 15.94% of the total market during the month and their segment sales are now only up 7.93% (4,996) for the year. Most of the major contenders have made gains compared to the same period last year – Navara (+0.2%), Triton (+11.9%), Hilux (+15.2%) and Ranger (+6.1%) with only the Colorado (-15.1%) taking a hit.
The Toyota Hilux (3,185) retained the segment lead from the Ford Ranger (3,176) while the Mitsubishi Triton (1,783) gained one place to be in 3<sup>rd</sup> while the Holden Colorado (1,546) dropped a place to 4<sup>th</sup> and the Toyota LandCruiser PU/CC (1,028) remained in 5<sup>th</sup> place.
Given the movement in the 4x4 and 4x2 Ute segments, we are going to include the previous quarterly analysis of how they are performing year against year in this report and report on it monthly instead. The only entrants included are those with both a 4x2 and 4x4 entrant so that does leave some out but nothing with any significant volume.
And a closer look at the 4x4 Utes only…
The final chart depicts the combined Holden and Ford sales for 4x2 Utes as a percentage share. This looks at the period from January 2012 when they both had two entries in the market place and as the Ranger continues, this chart will remain.
Prestige Segment
The Caprice, also in stock run-out mode managed 2 sales and the luxury segment is down 11.75% overall. Chrysler’s 300/C managed 22 sold in May to be up 20.2% on this time last year. With no Ford entrant in the category we no longer graph this category.
Fiesta / Light Segment
The Hyundai Accent (1,251) retained the segment lead with the Mazda 2 (868) in 2<sup>nd</sup> and the Toyota Yaris (861) in 3<sup>rd</sup>, all unchanged.
The rest of the top group consists of:
Suzuki Swift (700) up one place to 4<sup>th</sup>;
Honda Jazz (659) up one place in 5<sup>th</sup>;<sup>
</sup>Kia Rio (580) down two places in 6<sup>th</sup>;
VW Polo (286) steady in 7<sup>th</sup>; and the
Ford Fiesta (76) down three places in 13<sup>th</sup>.
This segment held a lower 6.77% of the total market in May and is down compared to 2017 by 0.84% (277 units). Not surprisingly, it’s downward results for about half the contenders in the segment with the Toyota Yaris down 20.5%, Mazda 2 down 9.2%, Fiesta down 45.7% and VW Polo down 16.4%. Kia Rio +16.3%, Holden Barina +28.4% and Suzuki Swift +94.6% are the biggest winners. The slide for Fiesta is substantial and current volumes are sub 100 units per month so the axe must be poised.
Please note we have shortened the time scale on some of the segment graphs as they were getting too difficult to read over the longer term.
Focus / Small Segment
The month saw Focus back up two places to 8<sup>th</sup> place with 441 sold, a pleasing result in what has been a torrid time. The segment lead was retained by the Toyota Corolla (3,120) ahead of the Hyundai i30 (2,779) which gained a place to 2<sup>nd</sup> with the Mazda 3 (2,586) down a place to 3<sup>rd</sup>. The remainder of the Top ten are:
VW Golf (1,951) steady in 4<sup>th</sup>;
Kia Cerato (1,843) steady in 5<sup>th</sup>;
Honda Civic (953) up one place in 6<sup>th</sup>;<sup>
</sup>Subaru Impreza (664)down one place to 7<sup>th</sup>;
Ford Focus (441) up two places in 8<sup>th</sup>;
Holden Astra (423) down a place in 9<sup>th</sup>; and
Mitsubishi Lancer (394) also down a place to 10<sup>th</sup>.
For the year to date, Corolla is down 1.7%, the Mazda 3 is down 5.5%, the Focus down by 16.2% andthe Subaru Impreza down 16.8%. On the winning side, Honda Civic is up 23.7%; VW Golf up 21.0% and Holden Astra up 16.8%.
The segment held a smaller market share of 18.05% in May and it is down overall by 1.89% (1,651 units) compared to 2017.
Mondeo / Medium Segment
In May, 167 Ford Mondeos were sold and it lost two places to be in 4<sup>th</sup> place. The segment lead was held by the Toyota Camry which sold 1,451 with the Mazda 6 (297) up a place in 2<sup>nd</sup> and the Skoda Ocatvia (196) up two places in 3<sup>rd </sup>with the Volkswagen Passat (149) up a place to 5<sup>th</sup> and the Subaru Liberty (127) down two places to be 6<sup>th</sup>. If they were counted on size and not price the Mercedes C Class (550), CLA-Class (266) and BMW 3-Series (198) would have been in the top five.
Percentage wise, the Hyundai Sonata (+19.0%) is the only winner compared to 2017 with the Subaru Liberty (-24.5%), Mondeo (-33.6%) and Honda Accord (-53.9%) the biggest losers and even the perennial Camry has dropped 28.1%.
The segment held a slightly bigger 2.84% of the market in May and has lost volume by 25.58% compared with 2017 – a drop of 4,123 sales and it really is rapidly becoming as irrelevant a segment to contend in as the large segment has been for some years.
Ecosport / Light SUV Segment
During May, the Ford Ecosport sold a mere 95 units but it remained in 14<sup>th</sup> place with the rest of the order being:
Mitsubishi ASX (2,029) retaining the segment lead;
Mazda CX-3 (1,274) steady in 2<sup>nd</sup>;
Subaru XV (1,223) steady in 3<sup>rd</sup>;
Hyundai Kona (1,192) steady in 4<sup>th</sup>;
Nissan Quashqai (1,041) up a place to 5<sup>th</sup>;
Honda HR-V (938) down a place to 6<sup>th</sup>; and
Toyota CH-R (793) down a place to 7<sup>th</sup>.
Please note that we have realigned our stats with the VFACTs categories now that there is a Ford entrant in this segment.
Mostly losers in this segment, the Nissan Juke is down 55.8%, Holden Trax down 23.6% and the Ecosport down by 27.2%. On the other side, Subaru XV is up 143.9% and the Mitsubishi ASX up 15.5%.
The segment held a smaller 10.89% of the market in May and it is up 30.82% (11,621) compared to 2017.
Escape / Compact SUV Segment
During May, the Escape sold 349 units and remained in 11<sup>th</sup> place with the top positions held by:
Mazda CX-5 (2,382) up one to regain the segment lead;
Toyota RAV-4 (2,063) also up a place in 2<sup>nd</sup>;
Hyundai Tucson (1,839) down two places in 3<sup>rd</sup>;
Nissan X-Trail (1,476) steady in 4<sup>th</sup>;
Honda CR-V (1,342) up two place to 5<sup>th</sup>;
Mitsubishi Outlander (1,275) steady in 6<sup>th</sup>; and
Kia Sportage (1,267) down two places in 7<sup>th</sup>.
Most contenders are now up in volume for the YTD with only the Ford Escape down 6.9%, Hyundai Tuscon down 9.0% and Subaru Forester down 22.6%. Honda CR-V is up 168.6%, Mitsubishi Outlander up 6.4%, Toyota RAV4 up 8.7% and Kia Sportage up 3.7%.
The segment held a larger 16.02% of the market in May and it is up 11.34% (7,257 units) compared to 2017.
Everest / Medium SUV Segment
The segment lead was retained by the Toyota Prado (1,712) ahead of the Toyotas Kluger (1,271) which remained in 2<sup>nd</sup> with the Subaru Outback (903) steady in 3<sup>rd</sup>. The rest of the Top 10:
Isuzu Ute MU-X (796) holding on to 4<sup>th</sup>;
Mazda CX-9 (661) up two places to 5<sup>th</sup>;
Hyundai Santa Fe (520) steady in 6<sup>th</sup>;
Kia Sorento (436) up two places to 7<sup>th</sup>;
Jeep Grand Cherokee (426) up two places to 8<sup>th</sup>;
Ford Everest (422) down a place to 9<sup>th</sup>; and
Holden Captiva (370) down five places to 10<sup>th</sup>.
Prado (+13.4%), Kluger (+28.0%) and Everest (+43.7%) are all better than last year with only the Captiva (-39.2%) and Pajero + Sport (-19.0%) showing any substantial drop. Despite the mixed individual performances, the segment held a smaller 10.22% of the market in May and has dropped volume by 3.7% for the year to date – a decrease of 1,776 sales.
The second chart depicts sales for the Territory and Everest over the entire production life.
Market Share Analysis
The Falcon v Commodore and Ute market charts have now been dropped with no sales on the Falcon platform.
For an easy look at the share held by each market segment, we have included a set of graphs that display this for quick reference – the first looks at the percentage market share for the current month while the second compares the percentage numbers for the current month for the last three years where is easy to see quickly which segments have gained and which have lost. We have also added a look at the segment movements in raw numbers terms for the month YTD. This shows the actual unit numbers that have been gained or lost within each segment for the year to date.
Total Market
Toyota retained the passenger market leadership in May with 19,323 passenger segment sales giving them a comfortable lead over Mazda (9,403); Hyundai (8,807) in 3<sup>rd</sup>; Mitsubishi (6,916) up one place to 4<sup>th</sup>; Ford (5,618) steady in 5<sup>th</sup>; Kia (5,500) up a place in 6<sup>th</sup>; VW (5,430) up one place to 7<sup>th</sup>; Holden (5,129) down two places to 8<sup>th</sup> and Nissan (4,334) still in 9<sup>th</sup>.
In percentage terms Ford is down 9.6% on 2017, Mazda down 4.3% and Holden are down 23.2%. On the positive side, Mitsubishi is up 10.6%, Kia is up 10.4% and Toyota is up 4.7%.
The chart below looks at the same data but over a shorter time frame so that movements are a little easier to detect.
We have been taking a look at the 15+-year history of the four manufacturers (Ford, Holden, Mazda and Toyota) from 2000 to the current time. These figures are based on year to date sales and as well as making the recent gain in the overall market apparent they also clearly depict how Toyota has pulled away from everyone since 2003; Mazda’s gain (and overtaking) of Ford in the 3<sup>rd</sup> to 5<sup>th</sup> place battle and the increasing penetration of both Nissan and Hyundai.
The next set of charts look at the trends within each segment and draws some comparisons between various battles within them. Please note that these graphs are based on the percentage share of the total market and as the market has been growing each year for the last decade or so (with the exception of 2009) the actual gains or losses are significantly greater than the gradual changes shown in the graph.
First up is a look at the four passenger segments where we can clearly see the continued slide in the large car segment, the strength of the dominant small segment and the rise in the light segment.
.. and a more targeted look at three critical segments over a shorter time frame:
Second is the percentage share held by each segment during the last five years – worth noting is the impact of the SUV realignment and the continued, if somewhat inconsistent, strength of the small segment.
Third is a closer look at the sport, prestige and luxury segments over the same time frame. While some of the vehicles that get placed in these categories defy logic they are the segments that are a good indicator of the general economic performance in Australia and they had all trended slightly downward but appear to have rallied so far this year.
Fourth is a look at the SUV segments. These segments had been growing quite rapidly and most of that growth had been in the compact and medium sized vehicles but after the realignment this year the medium segment now has the upper hand over the compact segment most of the time although it is inconsistent. We have included the new segment for completeness.
To see who the winners and the losers are so far this year here is a comparison of the various manufacturers on a YTD basis when compared to last year. For the purpose of the exercise we have obviously picked the (modern) big four; Toyota, Holden, Mazda and Ford but also added a couple of others that have been big movers in recent times by way of comparison. The first chart looks at the raw numbers while the second looks at the percentage variation.
Drilling down on the winners and losers a bit more shows some interesting changes amongst both manufacturers and individual models.
The biggest overall improver is Honda, gaining 5,869 sales (more than anyone else) which represent a 35.7% improvement on 2017. Toyota gained 4,208 sales but that is only a 5.0% increase. Others in the better than 10% improvement club include Isuzu Ute (+18.4%); Mitsubishi (+10.6%), Kia (+10.4%), Chrysler (+17.0%) and Ferrari (+24.1%) although the latter two are based on very small volume.
The biggest overall loser is Holden, down 23.2% and 7,611 sales although Land Rover dropped 11.6% (605), Jaguar dropped 26.4% and Infiniti lost 47.3% albeit also on very low volume.
In terms of individual models, the Honda CR-V (4,262) has gained the most sales ahead of the Subaru XV (3,499), Toyota Hilux 4x4 (2,003), Toyota CH-R (1,961) and Honda Civic (1,133). The Land Rover Discovery (+239.6%) recorded the second highest percentage gain while the Honda CR-V (168.6%), Toyota CH-R (+113.9%) and the Subaru XV (+143.9%) all more than doubled their sales.
On the less happy side, the Holden Commodore dropped 4,664 sales to suffer the biggest numerical loss while the next closest is another Holden (Capitva) which dropped 1,645 units and the third worst is the Holden Colorado which is 1,118 units down. The Holden Caprice and Toyota Aurion topped the losing percentage chart with 88.0% and 89.1% respectively while the Skoda Fabia, Hyundai iMax, BMW 5-Series, Hyundai Veloster, Mitsubishi Mirage, Suzuki Ignis, Audi Q3, Holden Commodore and Land Rover Evoque all more than halved their sales volumes compared to 2017.
Next up is a look at some individual models – naturally all of the current Ford range with any real volume has been included but also the segment leaders and the red corner competition along with anything else that seemed of interest.
.. and a (newer) comparison of all the non-Falcon based Ford models. Please note that the Mustang is now included.
State of Origin
We also take a quick look at the sales by State. The data is for the year to date and looks at the years from 2007 to 2018. All of the States gained volume for the year to date except NSW which is down 2.3%. West Australia and the ACT the biggest winners with 5.1% and 5.6% growth, respectively. All except WA (-23.8%), Northern Territory (-4.7%) and Tasmania (-3.7%) have improved compared to ten years ago with Victoria (+17.3%) the biggest improver over that period.
The first chart looks at the raw sales numbers over the period while the second compares the percentage change between 2017 and 2018.
Country of Origin
Finally, a little look at the origin of our vehicles - not really a concern now that we know the future of our automotive industry but it does at least show where some of the production off shore originates.
The pie chart shows the major origins for vehicles sold in the Australian market on a YTD basis (along with a comparison from 2012) while the second chart compares those figures to the previous years and the final chart shows a YTD total (by year) for all imports compared to locally produced.
Be The First