The more things change, the more they stay the same. Toyota is off to a flying start according to the VFACTS data for January. A total of 88,551 new car sales were recorded, up from the 84,910 registrations achieved in the first month of last year’s all-time record.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the car industry’s lobby group, confirmed the result represented a 4.3 per cent increase when compared to the same month last year.
SUVs continue to be the preferred body style of new car buyers with a 42.8 per cent market share. Passenger cars have now fallen to 36 per cent of the market.
Interestingly, Holden’s Astra couldn’t repeat December’s heroics, dropping to 813 sales. With plenty of demos to clear a greatly reduced result was to be expected.
Those with an eye for details will notice the absence of the Holden Commodore and Toyota Camry in the top ten. These popular models are transitioning to fully imported offerings. The Camry is sure to rebound quickly, while the new Commodore will need to work much harder.
Toyota remains Australia’s favourite brand with 15,306 sales. This is Toyota’s best January result since 2008. All up, Toyota improved on January 2017 by 21.9 per cent. The HiLux ute was again the nation's biggest seller.
Honda was also on the winner's list with 4581 sales, a huge 32 per cent gain. The brilliant new CR-V accounted for 1474 registrations, an improvement of 167 per cent. Expect Honda to maintain a place in the top ten for the remained of 2018.
Kia moved 4531 units (up 12.9%) and Isuzu Ute hit a total of 1526 sales (up a massive 39.4%) to grab some early momentum.
FCA brand Jeep is looking for a big 2018 with a raft of new metal, January saw an improvement of 28.1 per cent with 556 cars moved.
At the premium end of the market, Mercedes-Benz had a stormer moving 3270 units (+9.9 per cent). Fellow German marque Audi managed 1578 sales (-22.1 per cent). Rounding out the German big three is BMW who was only six units down on January last year (2110 to 2104).
Top 10 selling new vehicles – January 2018
Toyota HiLux – 3860
Ford Ranger – 3260
Mazda 3 – 3201
Toyota Corolla – 2776
Mazda CX-5 – 2152
Hyundai i30 – 1850
Toyota RAV4 – 1780
Nissan X-Trail – 1668
Volkswagen Golf - 1629
Mazda CX-3 – 1582
Top 10 selling vehicle brands – January 2018
Toyota – 15,306
Mazda – 10,113
Hyundai – 7124
Holden – 5719
Ford – 5645
Mitsubishi – 5263
Nissan – 4707
Honda – 4581
Kia – 4531
Subaru – 4253
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