Australian vehicle sales for November 2017 (VFACTS)

It’s down to the pointy end of the year and now we can start to assume the best sellers for 2017 with the release of the Australian VFACTS figures for new vehicle registrations during November 2017.

It was never really contested throughout the entire year but it looks like Toyota is firmly planted in number one position as the most popular car manufacturer in Australia this year. Sales are up an impressive 5.2 per cent year-to-date, as it racks up 199,485 sales through November.

In other areas of the top 10 best-performing brands, we see Mazda has reclaimed second spot after losing it to Hyundai in October, and Mitsubishi has overtaken Ford for fifth place. Honda has also moved up from 10th to eighth for the month of November. The top 10 most popular car brands during November 2017 were as follows:

1. Toyota – 18,804 (up from 17,836 of October 2017 sales)
2. Mazda – 9330 (up from 8054)
3. Hyundai – 8781 (down from 8800)
4. Holden – 7955 (up from 7726)
5. Mitsubishi – 6678 (up from 5550)
6. Ford – 6275 (up from 5785)
7. Volkswagen – 5364 (up from 4941)
8. Honda – 4431 (up from 3870)
9. Kia – 4305 (up from 4255)
10. Subaru – 4265 (down from 4667)

In terms of the best-selling models, specifically, the Toyota HiLux continues its charge at the front. It looks set to become the best-selling vehicle of 2017 in Australia, which will be its second consecutive year at the top. Other notable vehicles include the Mazda CX-5, which is also set to be the best-selling SUV in Australia for the second year running. As for the popular small car battle between the Corolla and Mazda3, Toyota looks like it has the win in the bag so far, with 34,712 sales year-to-date compared with Mazda’s 29,883. The top 10 best-selling vehicles for November 2017 were as follows:

1. Toyota HiLux – 4103 (up from 3812)
2. Ford Ranger – 3576 (up from 3074)
3. Toyota Corolla – 2959 (down from 3088)
4. Mazda3 – 2464 (up from 1962)
5. Mazda CX-5 – 2358 (up from 2173)
6. Hyundai i30 – 2227 (down from 3983)
7. Hyundai Tucson – 2121 (up from 1420)
8. Toyota RAV4 – 1950 (up from 1700)
9. Mitsubishi ASX – 1948 (up from 1542)
10. Toyota Camry – 1913 (down from 2057)

Small Cars under $40,000 – The Corolla (34,712), Mazda3 (29,883), and Hyundai i30 (27,313) look set to take these respective podium standings through to December, with the Kia Cerato currently sitting in fourth place with 17,453 units year-to-date unlikely to unhinge the top runners. The VW Golf might overtake the Cerato for fourth, with its current 16,695 tally. The top 10 best-selling small cars in November were as follows:

1. Toyota Corolla – 2959 (down from 3088)
2. Mazda3 – 2464 (up from 1962)
3. Hyundai i30 – 2227 (down from 3983)
4. Volkswagen Golf – 1761 (down from 1808)
5. Holden Astra – 1480 (up from 1031)
6. Kia Cerato – 1476 (up from 1306)
7. Honda Civic – 1439 (up from 1238)
8. Subaru Impreza – 909 (down from 988)
9. Mitsubishi Lancer – 766 (up from 508)
10. Ford Focus – 464 (down from 498)

Medium Cars under $60,000 – In this space the Toyota Camry will easily take the yearly crown, totalling 22,411 sales year-to-date. The second place Mazda6 has little chance of catching, with 3376 sales so far. The top five best-selling models in this class for November were as follows:

1. Toyota Camry – 1913 (down from 2057 of October)
2. Mazda6 – 364 (up from 200)
3. Skoda Octavia – 231 (up from 195)
4. Ford Mondeo – 211 (down from 255)
5. Subaru Liberty – 142 (up from 129)

Medium Cars over $60,000 – Stepping up a class, the Mercedes C-Class is continuing its lead, clocking up 7812 sales year-to-date. Its main rival is its brother, the CLA, which has posted 3112 sales in the same 11-month period. The Bavarian rival, BMW 3 Series, isn’t far behind at 2434 sales. In November these standings are replicated. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class during November were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 650 (up from 609)
2. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class – 262 (up from 203)
3. BMW 3 Series – 214 (up from 191)
4. Audi A4 – 104 (down from 126)
5. Lexus IS – 89 (down from 111)

Large Cars under $70,000 – Holden Commodore sales are starting to show some decline following the closure of local production earlier this year. Whether the new, imported version will be able to hold up the fort from February is yet to be known. Ford Falcon sales are almost gone, even though production stopped over a year ago. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class for November 2017 were as follows:

1. Holden Commodore – 1835 (down from 2418)
2. Kia Stinger – 151 (down from 223)
3. Toyota Aurion – 147 (up from 132)
4. Skoda Superb – 80 (up from 73)
5. Peugeot 508 – 17 (up from 3)

Large Cars over $70,000 – Into the premium version of the segment above, the Mercedes E-Class looks set to take the yearly crown. It has posted 1766 sales year-to-date, with the BMW 5 Series not too far behind with 1183 sales. Third place is still up for grabs, between the Maserati Ghibli (200), Jaguar XF (239), and Audi A6 (286). The top five best-selling vehicles in this segment in November were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz E-Class – 126 (up from 89)
2. BMW 5 Series – 63 (down from 87)
3. Genesis G80 – 26 (up from 1)
4. Maserati Ghibli – 23 (up from 14)
5. Jaguar XF – 21 (up from 18)

Sports Car under $80,000 – For the sports car fans, it looks like the Ford Mustang will take the 2017 crown. It has racked up an impressive 8714 sales so far this year, which is actually more than some affordable SUVs and mainstream cars such as the Holden Trax (7078), Honda CR-V (8350), and Volkswagen Polo (5902). And in November it took the crown once again. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class for November were as follows:

1. Ford Mustang – 711 (up from 629 of October)
2. Hyundai Veloster – 144 (down from 167)
3. BMW 2 Series Coupe/Convertible – 126 (down from 130)
4. Toyota 86 – 91 (down from 112)
5. Mazda MX-5 – 90 (up from 98)
   (Subaru WRX – 269 [up from 252] – not officially in this segment, shown for comparison)

Sport Cars over $80,000 – Up a notch and it’s more evenly matched, aside from the Mercedes Class two-door. The Audi A5 moved up a couple of places in November, but the C-Class is likely to be followed by the BMW 4 Series by year’s end. The 4 Series has tallied 1001 sales year-to-date against the C-Class two-door’s 2654 sales. The top five best-selling models in this category were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe/Convertible – 171 (up from 170)
2. Audi A5 – 60 (up from 51)
3. BMW 4 Series Coupe – 53 (down from 75)
4. Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe/Convertible – 50 (down from 58)
5. Lexus RC – 26 (up from 44)/Audi TT – 26 (up from 20)

Sport Cars over $200,000 – The king of high-end sports cars will be the Porsche 911 this year. It has collected up 402 sales year-to-date, bettering second-best Ferrari with 178 sales. In the month of November, this is reversed as the Italian marque reported an impressive 39 sales, making it the class favourite for the month. The top five best-selling vehicles in the class during November were as follows:

1. Ferrari (not specified) – 39 (up from 5)
2. Porsche 911 – 15 (down from 19)
3. Bentley (not specified) – 13/Mercedes-AMG GT – 13
4. Lamborghini (not specified) – 12 (up from 9)
5. Aston Martin – 10 (up from 7)

Combined 4×2 and 4×4 ute – Toyota and Ford continue to fight it out, but the HiLux is expected to take home the crown this year as mentioned. For November, only a few models moved around the top 10 rankings, with the Colorado moving back up into third after losing it to the D-Max in October, while the Navara has overtaken the BT-50. The top 10 best-selling utes (4×2 and 4×4 combined – excludes LandCruiser) for November were as follows:

1. Toyota HiLux – 4103 (up from 3812 from October)
2. Ford Ranger – 3576 (up from 3074)
3. Holden Colorado – 1901 (up from 1393)
4. Mitsubishi Triton – 1752 (down from 1857)
5. Isuzu D-Max – 1699 (up from 1496)
6. Nissan Navara – 1360 (up from 1006)
7. Mazda BT-50 – 1058 (down from 1333)
8. Volkswagen Amarok – 716 (down from 926)
9. Great Wall Steed – 19 (down from 30)
10. All remaining models posted 0 sales

Over in the increasingly popular SUVs, we see the Mitsubishi ASX is still soaring ahead in its class, while the Mazda CX-5 posted huge numbers in its segment. In the premium grades, the BMW X5 holds onto the large category, while the Mercedes GLC and GLA just take the medium and small class crowns.

The ‘Medium under $60,000’ class continues as the favourite, posting 14,517 sales in November, up 15.4 per cent year-to-date. In second spot, the ‘Small under $40,000’ segment comes in with 10,294 sales, up 4.4 per cent. Rounding out as the third favourite SUV class it’s the ‘Large under $70,000’ segment, with 9531 sales, down 2.9 per cent.

The top three best-selling SUVs in all categories for November were as follows:

• SUV Small under $40,000:
  Mitsubishi ASX – 1948 (up from 1542 from October)
  Mazda CX-3 – 1405 (up from 1106)
  Nissan Qashqai – 1372 (up from 987)

• SUV Small above $40,000:
  Mercedes-Benz GLA – 293 (down from 295)
  BMW X1 – 217 (down from 256)
  Audi Q2 – 214 (down from 226)

• SUV Medium under $60,000:
  Mazda CX-5 – 2358 (up from 2173)
  Hyundai Tucson – 2121 (up from 1420)
  Toyota RAV4 – 1950 (up from 1700)

• SUV Medium above $60,000:
  Mercedes-Benz GLC – 404 (up from 366)
  BMW X3 – 399 (up from 363)
  Audi Q5 – 375 (down from 559)

• SUV Large under $70,000:
  Toyota LandCruiser Prado – 1492 (up from 829)
  Toyota Kluger – 1139 (up from 1120)
  Subaru Outback – 789 (down from 912)

• SUV Large above $70,000:
  BMW X5 – 226 (down from 262)
  Audi Q7 – 203 (down from 210)
  Range Rover Sport – 186 (down from 231)

• SUV Upper Large under $100,000:
  Toyota LandCruiser – 1101 (down from 1117)
  Nissan Patrol – 122 (up from 20)

• SUV Upper Large above $100,000:
  Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class/GL – 43 (down from 49)
  Range Rover – 42 (up from 20)
  Lexus LX – 26 (down from 30)

Total new vehicle sales in Australia in November were up on October figures. During November, Australian consumers bought 101,365 vehicles according to VFACTS compared with 95,763 in October. Overall sales for the month are up 2.5 per cent compared with November 2016, and up 0.6 per cent year-to-date.