Australian new motor vehicle sales achieved what local lobby group, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), called “a remarkable comeback” in the second half of 2011 to finish above 1m calendar year sales for only the fourth time in history.
Official FCAI VFACTS data showed that 1,008,437 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were delivered to customers last year.
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Volume was down 2.6% (27,137 units) compared with 2010 – which could be attributed to challenging market conditions and significant supply shortages during the year, according to FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers.
“2011 full year sales are an exceptional result given the effects of natural disasters both at home and abroad throughout the year,” Chalmers said.
“The uptake of new vehicles was impacted early in the year by economic uncertainty, closely followed by natural disasters in the key markets of Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
“Sales were further subdued by Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, with a resulting shortage of export vehicles from that country a secondary outcome of the extreme loss of life experienced by the Japanese people.
“The resilience of the Australian marketplace, combined with strong industry resolve, saw sales recover strongly in the fourth quarter, with total sales finishing just 3.9% behind the FCAI’s forecast of 1,050,000 for the year.”
Sales results
Toyota was the best selling vehicle brand in 2011, with 181,624 sales for a market share of 18%.
Holden and Ford finished second and third with 126,095 sales (12.5%) and 91,243 (9%) respectively.
The imported Mazda 3 was the best selling model for the full year, edging out perennial, locally-made top seller, the Holden Commodore, by 812 vehicles to finish with 41,429 sales.
Toyota’s HiLux truck was third overall with 36,124 sales, followed by the Corolla (36,087) and Holden Cruze (33,784).
The small car, luxury SUV and 4×4 light commercial segments led the sales charge throughout 2011, growing by 2.1, 22.4 and 6.3% respectively.
2012 outlook
Chalmers said the FCAI’s outlook for 2012 was cautiously optimistic.
“Once again in 2012 we are predicting the market to top 1m sales – a realistic assessment given the recent nature of competitive strategy in the retail sector and strong consumer demand for new models,” he said.
“2012 will require a concerted and collaborative effort by the industry and government to drive the automotive sector in this country forward.
“Top of agenda is the need to finalise a CO2 emission standard in this country with this industry having led the charge by delivering significant gains in fuel efficiency over the past decade.
“We’ll also be closely assessing the impact of carbon pricing to be introduced from July.
“Significantly, 2012 will be a year where the industry reinforces the pivotal importance of co-investment programmes between government and industry in competing for, and winning, important new manufacturing assignments for Australia.”
