Range Rover Sport HSE P400 Hybrid

Figures released today show an auto industry continuing to feel the weakened Australian economy.

Despite government claims things have never been better, retailers struggle with declining consumer spending.

Discretionary spending is the first to go, and the family car is pressed in to a longer service than might otherwise be the case.

Recent years have seen a downward trend from a peak in 2016.

Jun 2019 saw a 9.6% decline with 177,817 vehicles sold. This is blamed on drought and tightened lending practices, but buyers know what the government appears to be trying to hide, things are not good. Passengers vehicles suffered a dramatic 18.5% fall.

Holden fell to just 4.4%, and now ranks 10th on the Top Ten Australian auto retailer market. The sad crash from grace reflects Holden’s inability to recapture buyer desire, which was once atover 38% market share.

Some auto retailers have seen steady growth, bucking the trend. The Korean car maker rose from 5.2% this time last year, to 5.8%. This is due to attractive vehicle design, good packaging of technology, and COO, Damien Meredith’s 7 year warranty. Kia was the first to market a warranty of 7 years as a standard feature.

The top two sellers are Toyota’s Hilux, down 6.8% with 5396 units in June, and Ford Ranger selling 4851 for the same period. That is a rise of 1.7%.

Below is a full table of the top 20 vehicles.

Rank Vehicle Jun-19 Jun-18 % diff

  1. Toyota Hi-Lux 5396 5787 -6.8%
  2. Ford Ranger 4851 4768 1.7%
  3. Hyundai i30 3343 3547 -5.8%
  4. Toyota Corolla 3137 3780 -17.0%
  5. Mazda CX-5 2911 3136 -7.2%
  6. Kia Cerato 2832 2485 14.0%
  7. Mitsubishi Triton 2695 3919 -31.2%
  8. Mazda3 2533 3327 -23.9%
  9. Toyota RAV4 2449 2690 -9.0%
  10. Toyota Landcruiser 2360 2558 -7.7%
  11. Hyundai Tucson 2344 2000 17.2%
  12. Mitsubishi ASX 2206 2053 7.5%
  13. Holden Colorado 2149 2472 -13.1%
  14. Nissan XTrail 2148 2151 -0.1%
  15. Toyota Prado 2045 1688 21.1%
  16. Isuzu Ute D-Max 2027 2223 -8.8%
  17. Subaru Forester 2014 1004 100.6%
  18. Honda CR-V 1987 2232 -11.0%
  19. Mitsubishi Outlander 1892 1881 0.6%
  20. Honda HR-V 1769 1760 0.5%

LCVs (light Commercial Vehicles) feature heavily and along with SUVs, now outnumber passenger cars.

Small volume brands have had mixed success. Interestingly, Rolls Royce increased sales, selling 26 cars this year, 10 of them in June alone. There is a lot of money to be disposed of before tax time so it seems.