Holden Commodore still number one in Full Sized Family

[PIR4TE]

From Caradvice.com.au

We've reached the halfway point of the year and the battle for the title of Australia's favourite car could barely be closer.

After flying out the gate and establishing a 5000-unit lead by February, the Mazda 3 has been reeled in by the Toyota Corolla over the past four months, cutting its margin to just 358 vehicles (22,524 v 22,166) and setting up an intriguing race in the back half of 2014.

Sales of both models are up this year - the Mazda by 12.2 per cent, the Toyota by 5.7 per cent - bucking the trend of the market overall, which is down 2.4 per cent compared with the first half of 2013 (559,951 v 573,711).

The Toyota HiLux (19,160) sits in third position. Sales of the 4x2 variant have increased 1.7 per cent (5417), though the more popular 4x4 is down 10.7 per cent to 13,743 in a segment that is down 7.2 per cent overall.

The fourth-placed Holden Commodore has been the big winner in the first half of 2014, with sales of the traditional Australian-made family car up 58.8 per cent to 16,355 compared to this time last year. Its share of the large car segment has increased from 52.1 per cent at the end of June 2013 to a commanding 72.6 per cent this year as rivals, the 47th-placed Ford Falcon (3562, down 29.7 per cent) and Toyota Aurion (2257, down 19.1 per cent), continue their downward spiral.

The Hyundai i30 (15,692, fifth overall) is the next best of the small cars, with sales up 4.7 per cent. Hyundai's small-car family sits outright third ahead of the HiLux when sales of the i30 and Elantra sedan (4352) are combined (20,044).

The Ford Ranger (13,443) is now clearly the second-best-selling ute in the country, with both the 4x2 (up 39.2 per cent) and 4x4 (up 24.1 per cent) finding favour among buyers.
A monster June for the Mitsubishi Triton saw it climb to seventh overall (11,838), narrowly beating the top-selling SUV, the Mazda CX-5 (11,006, up 9.0 per cent), the Volkswagen Golf (10,736, up 46.6 per cent), and the Toyota Camry (10,118, down 0.2 per cent), which rounds out the top 10.

A sales dip of 4.7 per cent has done little to dent Toyota's dominance at the top of the brand chart. Its 101,105 mid-year total is almost double that of any other manufacturer, though its share of the market has fallen from 18.5 per cent to 18.1.

Second-placed Holden is up 10.1 per cent so far this year (56,773), pulling clear of Mazda (51,910, down 0.7 per cent) and Hyundai (49,597, up 3.4 per cent), which are fighting a fierce battle for the final step on the podium.

Ford (42,242, down 5.1 per cent) sits alone in fifth, ahead of a three-way stoush between Nissan (33,155, down 24.8 per cent), Mitsubishi (32,676, down 12.5 per cent) and Volkswagen (28,571, up 3.3 per cent).

Subaru is down 3.3 per cent but holds on to ninth place (20,040), while rapidly sliding Honda (15,443, down 34.1 per cent) just clings to bottom rung of the top 10, holding off Kia (15,299, up 0.2 per cent) and the top-selling luxury brand Mercedes-Benz (15,006, up 14.3 per cent).

Fiat (2999, up 222.1 per cent), Isuzu (7846, up 57.8 per cent), Renault (4380, up 52.5 per cent), Jeep (14,207, up 43.2 per cent), Audi (9661, up 18.5 per cent) and Land Rover (5112, up 16.6 per cent) have all made strong starts to the 2014.

Suzuki has been a big loser, plummeting 24.4 per cent to 8883 sales and 16th position overall, while Great Wall has also disappointed, down 56.0 per cent to 1691.

Top 50 Best-selling Vehicles - January to June 2014

1. Mazda 3 - 22,524
2. Toyota Corolla - 22,166
3. Toyota HiLux - 19,160
4. Holden Commodore - 16,355
5. Hyundai i30 - 15,692
6. Ford Ranger - 13,443
7. Mitsubishi Triton - 11,838
8. Mazda CX-5 - 11,006
9. Volkswagen Golf (including Cabriolet) - 10,736
10. Toyota Camry - 10,118
11. Holden Colorado - 9647
12. Holden Cruze - 9407
13. Toyota RAV4 - 9327
14. Hyundai ix35 - 9126
15. Ford Focus - 8852
16. Toyota Prado - 8774
17. Nissan Navara - 8703
18. Jeep Grand Cherokee - 8610
19. Hyundai i20 - 7736
20. Subaru Forester - 6828
21. Mazda BT50 - 6762
22. Mazda 2 - 6616
23. Toyota Yaris - 6573
24. Nissan X-Trail - 6442
25. Subaru XV - 5680
26. Isuzu D-Max - 5607
27. Nissan Dualis - 5572
28. Holden Captiva 7 - 5561
29. Ford Territory - 5079
30. Nissan Pulsar - 5055
31. Honda CR-V - 5037
32. Honda Civic - 4666
33. Toyota LandCruiser - 4558
34. Suzuki Swift - 4506
35. Toyota Kluger - 4414
36. Mitsubishi Lancer - 4388
37. Hyundai Elantra - 4352
38. Mitsubishi Outlander - 4340
39. Kia Rio - 4305
40. Mitsubishi ASX - 4115
41. Volkswagen Amarok - 4082
42. Mitsubishi Mirage - 3923
43. Ford Fiesta - 3756
44. Toyota LandCruiser Ute - 3695
45. Volkswagen Tiguan - 3679
46. Mercedes-Benz C-Class (all variants) - 3597
47. Ford Falcon - 3562
48. Kia Sportage - 3556
49. Holden Barina - 3548
50. Kia Cerato - 3447

Top 25 Best-selling Brands - January to June 2014

1. Toyota - 101,105
2. Holden - 56,773
3. Mazda - 51,910
4. Hyundai - 49,597
5. Ford - 42,242
6. Nissan - 33,155
7. Mitsubishi - 32,676
8. Volkswagen - 28,571
9. Subaru - 20,040
10. Honda - 15,443
11. Kia - 15,299
12. Mercedes-Benz - 15,006
13. Jeep - 14,207
14. BMW - 10,856
15. Audi - 9661
16. Suzuki - 8883
17. Isuzu - 7846
18. Land Rover - 5112
19. Renault - 4380
20. Lexus - 3565
21. Fiat - 2999
22. Volvo - 2742
23. Peugeot - 2274
24. Skoda - 1807
25. Great Wall - 1691

 

[c2105026]

Interesting. Fiesta is biggest selling car in UK, but is 43rd here. Interesting that Falcon is now basically the lowest selling Ford vehicle!

Bathurst 1000 should now be between Mazda3 and Corolla if this is anything to go by!

 

[commodore665]

Those figure make interesting reading , not surprised to see the falcon doing so poorly , in NZ the commodore still sells well , to the farmers and government fleet (police vehicles ) , although the best seller is the Toyota corolla .

 

[SavVYute]

They're not selling many Alfa Romeos by the look of it. Don't even make the list.

 

[commodore665]

They're not selling many Alfa Romeos by the look of it. Don't even make the list.

Somewhat shockingly the Great Wall does make the list , WTF!?!?

 

[Ian Johnston]

The Great Wall is a bit like the Tata of years gone by, its a cheap vehicle that fits into a gap for people who dont want/cant afford to pay high prices for a Toyota Hilux/Colorado/etc, etc.
Maybe not a perfect vehicle, but will do what some want, and will keep getting better.

 

[Commo Baba]

Holden is 2nd top selling brand. Best we shut the factory.

 

[Calaber]

I'd still like to know why the Commodore sells as well as it does, yet the Falcon has almost disappeared. There isn't that much difference between the cars, although the VF upgrade puts the Commodore ahead of the Falcon for features and "modern-ness". Marketing probably has something to do with it, but the VE was outselling the Falcon by large percentages a few years back. Wonder why Aussies have decided they'll still buy a Commodore but forget the Falcon?

 

[Darren_L]

I'd still like to know why the Commodore sells as well as it does, yet the Falcon has almost disappeared. There isn't that much difference between the cars, although the VF upgrade puts the Commodore ahead of the Falcon for features and "modern-ness". Marketing probably has something to do with it, but the VE was outselling the Falcon by large percentages a few years back. Wonder why Aussies have decided they'll still buy a Commodore but forget the Falcon?

yeah it is interesting point I've always wondered.
Whether you're a Holden or Ford fan, both are good cars, similar options & performance. I guess marketing, fleet contracts etc and the deals that dealerships are offering might factor into it.

Holden certainly left the best until last. Although the VF is essentially a facelifted VE, the differences are quite substantial. It just has a much higher feeling of quality over the VE, in particular the interior. Will be sad to see the Commodore & Falcon go.

 

[Benzito]

I'm trying to remember exactly when Holden announced factory closures. Cause 58.8% sales increase over last year is massive. Is it just people getting all nostalgic and patriotic, and wanting to buy one while they still can?
I think Ford had a similar sales surge when they announced their factory closures.