Australian vehicle sales for September 2016 – Mazda forges ahead

Australian VFACTS figures for new vehicle registrations have been released for September 2016, and it looks like Mazda is on a charge backed up by Hyundai to take over the market.

In terms of the best-selling vehicle brands, Toyota sold the most vehicles out of any other carmaker in Australia in September, as usual. Hyundai managed to push its way past both Holden and Ford for third place, but it’s Mazda that tallied up some very impressive numbers, good enough for second place. This means brands such as Nissan and Volkswagen were pushed right down the top 10 ladder. The top 10 most popular brands for September 2016 were as follows:

1. Toyota – 16,716 (down from 18,650 of August 2016 sales)
2. Mazda – 12,009 (up from 9258)
3. Hyundai – 9319 (up from 6536)
4. Holden – 8564 (up from 7667)
5. Ford – 7280 (up from 6849)
6. Mitsubishi – 6701 (up from 6136)
7. Nissan – 5177 (down from 5616)
8. Volkswagen – 4380 (up from 3893)
9. Subaru – 4050 (up from 3362)
10. Kia – 3687 (down from 3710)

In terms of the best-selling vehicle models, it’s Mazda that has overtaken the Corolla in its usual head-to-head battle. Toyota still posted impressive Corolla figures, not far behind. We also see some big changes in the top 10, with the little Mazda CX-3 edging its way in, pushing out the Toyota Camry. Hyundai’s Accent also rounded out the top 10, usually nowhere to be seen here. The top 10 best-selling vehicles for September 2016 were as follows:

1. Mazda3 – 3491 (up from 2818)
2. Toyota Corolla – 3423 (down from 3554)
3. Toyota HiLux – 3209 (down from 3311)
4. Ford Ranger – 2903 (down from 2964)
5. Hyundai i30 – 2741 (up from 1864)
6. Mazda CX-5 – 2662 (up from 1902)
7. Holden Commodore – 2366 (up from 1952)
8. Mitsubishi Triton – 2246 (up from 1321)
9. Hyundai Tucson – 2209 (up from 1654)
10. Hyundai Accent – 2189 (up from 1654)

Medium Cars under $60,000 – Toyota Camry may have missed out on the overall top 10 but it still leads the way in this segment. Perhaps the one to watch in this class is the new Subaru Levorg (WRX wagon). It’s working its way up the rankings here, and for good reason; it’s a fantastic little car (review coming soon). This is only its third month (or so) it has been on sale. The top five best-selling models in this class were as follows:

1. Toyota Camry – 2008 (down from 2458 of August)
2. Subaru Levorg – 399 (up from 229)
3. Mazda6 – 383 (up from 262)
4. Subaru Liberty – 316 (up from 256)
5. Ford Mondeo – 288 (up from 223)

Medium Cars over $60,000 – A businessman’s special. This class is dominated by the Mercedes C-Class and its sportier brother, the CLA. BMW’s 3 Series had a hard time keeping up but it does lead the other main rivals. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 539 (down from 583)
2. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class – 333 (down from 352)
3. BMW 3 Series – 273 (down from 305)
4. Audi A4 – 264 (down from 337)
5. Lexus IS – 120 (down from 127)

Large Cars under $70,000 – A segment that will see some big changes over the next 12 month. Actually, next month will be the last time we’ll see the Ford Falcon in here as local production closes down on October 7. Falcon sales might continue for a few months though as existing stock is sold off. During September the Holden Commodore held onto decent figures, but unfortunately the Falcon and Toyota Aurion continue to dwindle. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class were as follows:

1. Holden Commodore – 2366 (up from 1952)
2. Ford Falcon – 462 (up from 441)
3. Toyota Aurion – 310 (down from 398)
4. Skoda Superb – 70 (up from 44)
5. Hyundai Genesis – 33 (down from 40)

Large Cars over $70,000 – Over into the premium large cars, and again it’s Mercedes-Benz that seems to be the go-to place. The E-Class couldn’t be caught, but in all fairness the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6 are getting near the end of their life-cycles, while the E-Class is a brand-new model for the moment. The top five best-selling vehicles in this segment in September 2016 were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz E-Class – 127 (up from 126)
2. Audi A6 – 63 (up from 52)
3. BMW 5 Series – 45 (up from 35)
4. Maserati Ghibli – 37 (up from 25)
5. Mercedes-Benz CLS – 27 (up from 21)

Sports Car under $80,000 – Here’s a segment that seems to be doing very well in Australia, particularly for Ford. Mustang sales just keep pulling – we bet Ford US is kicking itself for not introducing the model to our market earlier. Following behind remains the Hyundai Veloster from the previous month, in front of arch-rival Toyota 86. In fact, BMW 2 Series and Mazda MX-5 sales managed to top the 86, and we suspect this is because the new, more powerful model is just around the corner. The top five best-selling vehicles in this class were as follows:

1. Ford Mustang – 786 (up from 717 of August)
2. Hyundai Veloster – 322 (up from 285)
3. BMW 2 Series Coupe/Convertible – 237 (up from 144)
4. Mazda MX-5 – 148 (up from 102)
5. Toyota 86 – 141 (down from 183)
   (Subaru WRX – 390 [up from 226] – not officially in this segment)

Sport Cars over $80,000 – In this pricier segment we see the relatively new C-Class coupe is going very strong, easily trumping all others. The rest of the top five standings remain unchanged from the previous month. The top five best-selling vehicles in this category were as follows:

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe/Convertible – 268 (up from 266)
2. BMW 4 Series Coupe/Convertible – 115 (down from 153)
3. Audi TT – 50 (up from 54)
4. Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe/Convertible – 48 (up from 45)
5. Lexus RC – 38 (up from 27)

Sport Cars over $200,000 – The money-is-no-object class saw the Porsche 911 boost out well ahead of any potential rivals. Porsche sold an impressive 72 examples of the legendary sports car in September, up 30.9 per cent on 2015’s September effort. The top five best-selling vehicles in the class during September 2016 were as follows:

1. Porsche 911 – 72 (up from 37)
2. BMW 6 Series – 17 (up from 13)
3. Mercedes-AMG GT – 11/Mercedes S-Class two-door – 11
4. Ferrari (not specified) – 10/Lamborghini – 10
5. Audi R8 – 9/Bentley (not specified) – 9

Combined 4×2 and 4×4 ute – Fast becoming Australia’s new family class, the combined ute sales continue to make a big dent in overall figures. The Ford Ranger took out the 4×4 crown, with 2451 sales against Toyota’s 2311 sales of the HiLux. However, combined 4×2 and 4×4 saw the HiLux remain as the favourite. Mitsubishi moved into third place while the Navara dropped down from fifth to seventh compared with the previous month. The top 10 best-selling utes (4×2 and 4×4 combined) for September 2016 were as follows:

1. Toyota HiLux – 3209 (down from 3311 of August 2016)
2. Ford Ranger – 2903 (down from 2964)
3. Mitsubishi Triton – 2246 (up from 1321)
4. Holden Colorado – 1732 (up from 1653)
5. Isuzu D-Max – 1400 (up from 1108)
6. Mazda BT-50 – 1361 (up from 1063)
7. Nissan Navara – 1144 (down from 1291)
8. Volkswagen Amarok – 654 (up from 541)
9. Foton Tunland – 67 (up from 62)
10. Ssangyong Actyon Sports – 1 (down from 3)

In the trending SUV classes, the Mazda CX-5 remains the best-seller overall. It was followed by the Hyundai Tucson and the Mazda CX-3, interestingly. For the premium classes, the Mercedes GLA has taken the crown from August leader, the BMW X1, while the Land Rover Discovery Sport made a big impact on the mid-size luxury class. BMW’s X5 continues to lead the large premium class, as per August.

The most popular category remains the ‘SUV Medium under $60,000’ class, with 13,738 sales in total. The figure is up an incredible 20.4 per cent compared with September 2015, when 11,415 units were sold.

Following as second favourite category is the ‘SUV Large below $70,000’ class. Consumers purchased 10,224 units in September 2016, down 8.9 per cent compared with September 2015.

Rounding out the top three most popular categories is the ‘SUV Small below $40,000’ segment, with 8503 sales, down 1.7 per cent compared with September 2015.

The top three best-selling SUVs in all categories for September 2016 were as follows:

• SUV Small under $40,000:
  Mazda CX-3 – 1878 (up from 1323 of August 2016)
  Mitsubishi ASX – 1776 (down from 1781)
  Nissan Qashqai – 1141 (up from 1066)

• SUV Small above $40,000:
  Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class – 477 (up from 225)
  BMW X1 – 375 (up from 318)
  Audi Q3 – 341 (up from 216)

• SUV Medium under $60,000:
  Mazda CX-5 – 2662 (up from 1902)
  Hyundai Tucson – 2209 (up from 1654)
  Toyota RAV4 – 1617 (down from 1766)

• SUV Medium above $60,000:
  Land Rover Discovery Sport – 387 (up from 300)
  Mercedes-Benz GLC – 369 (up from 326)
  BMW X3 – 335 (down from 365)

• SUV Large under $70,000:
  Toyota LandCruiser Prado – 1160 (down from 1328)
  Subaru Outback – 1042 (up from 924)
  Toyota Kluger – 940 (down from 1106)

• SUV Large above $70,000:
  BMW X5 – 310 (down from 347)
  Range Rover Sport – 253 (up from 245)
  Mercedes-Benz GLE – 174 (down from 230)

• SUV Upper Large under $100,000:
  Toyota LandCruiser – 903 (down from 1350)
  Nissan Patrol – 277 (up from 154)

• SUV Upper Large above $100,000:
  Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class/GL – 76 (down from 107)
  Range Rover – 30 (down from 39)
  Lexus LX – 33 (down from 37)

Total new vehicle sales in Australia in September were up on August figures. During September, Australian consumers bought 102,696 vehicles, compared with 94,909 in August. Sales are up 1.3 per cent compared with September 2015, with year-to-date figures also up, 2.8 per cent.