Australian Car Market Breaks New Vehicle Sales Record!
In what was a very interesting year for the Australian new car market, the previous record for new vehicle sales set in 2013, which Australian’s purchased 1,136,227 new vehicles, has been broken by 1.7% in 2015. In the 2015 calendar year, 1,155,408 new vehicles were delivered which is an increase of 42,184 from last year (1,113,224). Overall sales were up 3.8% on 2014 and 1.7% on 2013.
As the start of 2016 is here, and the new benchmark set, it’s without doubt businesses will set their goals in an attempt to break the 2015 record. Consumer Confidence according to Roy Morgan Research rose 0.8% to 116.3 on the first weekend of January leaving the confidence above its long-run average at +3.2%. Consumers who participated in the survey overall felt they are now better off financially than they were at this time last year. It would be great for the industry if this consumer confidence continues to improve throughout 2016.
The Australian Capital Territory saw growth of 4.4%, New South Wales grew 6.9%, Queensland 5.4%, Tasmania 12% and Victoria 4.2% from the 2014 new vehicle sales results. The not so good news is new vehicle sales fell in the Northern Territory (-4.3%), South Australia (0.8%) and Western Australia (-7.9%).
The breakdown of new vehicle sales
There’s reason to believe the variety of new passenger cars, sports utility vehicles and commercial vehicles within the current market is only set to expand in the near future. “The high level of choice in the Australian new car market is delivering Australian consumers’ access to high-quality vehicles at record affordability levels”, said Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber.
Without too much surprise, the SUV segment of the market was the biggest improver. SUV’s finished with a 15.9% increase in new vehicle sales from 2014 whilst passenger vehicles took a -3.9% drop for the same time period. The Micro car segment has dropped 32.3% and upper-large segment down 18.5% in 2015 from 2014 with medium size vehicles up 12.6% and People Movers up 16.9%.
Off the total 1,155,408 new vehicles sales, 773,865 had petrol engines, 335,962 rely on diesel fuel (which were mostly commercial vehicles and SUV’s), hybrid vehicles account for 12,138 sales whilst 1,108 electric vehicles were sold.
What could have been a contributing factor to 2015 setting a new vehicle sales record is the accessibility consumers now have to finance. “The competitiveness of the market has seen new car buyers access an extensive range of finance options and genuine service offers that maintain the value and integrity of the vehicle”, said Mr Weber.
With Honda improving their sales by 21.5% from last year, they’ve managed to sneak into the Top 10 Selling Brand list for 2015, whilst Mazda also significantly improved over last year by 13.2%.
Top 10 Selling Brands - 2015
1. Toyota - 206,236 sales (up 1.3 percent)
2. Mazda - 114,024 (up 13.2 percent)
3. Holden - 102,951 (down 3.0 percent)
4. Hyundai - 102,004 (up 2.0 percent)
5. Mitsubishi - 71,743 (up 4.5 percent)
6. Ford - 70,454 (down 11.6 percent)
7. Nissan - 66,062 (up 0.1 percent)
8. Volkswagen - 60,225 (up 9.9 percent)
9. Subaru - 43,600 (up 7.6 percent)
10. Honda - 40,100 (up 21.5 percent)
The Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 have been fierce rivals for quite some time now with the Corolla claiming the top spot for the best-selling models of 2015. Whilst the Ford Falcon versus Holden Commodore rivalry has been won this year by Holden, Ford’s Ranger has been a strong performer finishing 5th on the list whilst the Commodore finished 6th.
Top 10 Selling Models - 2015
1. Toyota Corolla - 42,073 sales
2. Mazda3 - 38,644
3. Toyota HiLux - 35,161
4. Hyundai i30 - 32,306
5. Ford Ranger - 29,185
6. Holden Commodore - 27.770
7. Toyota Camry - 27,654
8. Mitsubishi Triton - 25,338
9. Mazda CX-5 - 25,136
10. Volkswagen Golf - 22,092
