|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
12 January 2009
It comes as no surprise that Australian vehicle sales declined
sharply in the final quarter of 2008, reflecting just about
everything else in the world’s economy last year. But the
Australian car industry, indeed the country in general, continues
to weather the financial storm better than most others.
The
good news is that Australian vehicle sales were so strong in the
first three quarters of the year that the 2008 total still
exceeded one million vehicles, only the second time that this has
happened. The 2008 market topped out at 1,012,164. That’s down
just 37,818, or 3.6 per cent on the 2007 record of 1,049,982
vehicles.
The
bad news is that sales are anticipated to decline by around 12 per
cent in 2009. Andrew McKellar, the Chief Executive of the Federal
Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) says his organisation’s
forecast is for a total of about 880,000 sales in 2009. That would
bring the numbers back to 2002 – 2003 figures so the decline is
not as dramatic as it appears at first sight.
Toyota
went against the overall trend, not only retaining its number one
spot on the market with ease, but also actually selling more
vehicles in 2008 than it did in 2007. Only 2336 more, but an
impressive result when others’ sales were plummeting. Toyotas
have long had a reputation of appealing to conservative buyers,
hence their appeal in this uncertain times.
Max
Yasuda, the President and CEO of Toyota Australia reported his
company sold 238,983 vehicles in Australia to give it 23.6% of the
market. A significant rise from the 22.5% in 2007, and creeping
ever closer to the 25% which would appear to be its ambition,
though it publicly denies it has that figure in its corporate
mind.
So
dominating were Toyota’s sales during 2008 that it easily
exceeded the combined numbers of second-placed Holden (130,338
sales) and Ford (104,715) in third spot. Holden had a particularly
bad 2008, with a big drop from 14.0% of the total market in 2007
to 12.7%. Ford remained steady, but with a meagre 10.3%.
Much
to Toyota's frustration, Holden yet again had the number one
selling vehicle in Australia. Holden Commodore fought off a close
battle with Toyota Corolla, the Japanese car having led the field
midway through the year. Falling petrol prices and the
introduction of the new Commodore station wagon helped the big
Holden retain its market lead.
But
that’s small consolation for Holden as Toyota managed an
incredible five top-selling positions out of the ten categories
measured by VFACTS on behalf of the FCAI.
Incidentally,
as well as selling over 238,000 cars in Australia last year,
Toyota also exported 101,563 Melbourne-built cars to various
overseas destinations.
These
might be gloomy times for car makers, but there's a big silver
lining in the cloud for potential buyers. Car companies are
working hard to clear the remainder of their 2008-plated vehicles
before they begin to look too long in the tooth. Meaning they're
offering deals unlike those ever seen before.
Ally
these mouth watering low prices to the lower interest rates and it
seems that right now might be a very good time to pay a visit to
your local car-yard zone.
Meanwhile,
in the truck field things are looking remarkably consistent for
Isuzu. The Japanese giant has just completed its 20th year sitting
at the top of its market segment in Australia. While the overall
truck market declined during the year, Isuzu was able to lift its
sales from 8420 in 2007, to 9223 in 2008. Thereby taking out 25.2%
of truck sales.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
