In what was a year full of twists, turns and surprises we’re pleased to announce the Australian New Car market has sold 1,178,133 new vehicles during 2016. For the third time in the last four years, the record has been broken with the previous record set in 2015 being broken by 2% (1,155,408). December 2016 saw 98,763 new vehicles sold which was slightly down on December 2015 by 0.9% or 853 vehicles.
When reviewing the 2016 full-year sales results, FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the past decade had seen a remarkable change in the traditional composition of the Australian vehicle market as evidenced by the success of the Hilux as the nation’s top-selling vehicle in 2016, and the ever-growing strength of Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) sales.
“Calendar year 2016 marks the seventh year in a row that the Australian new car market has topped 1 million sales, and this result posts the industry’s third record in four years,” Mr Weber said.
“It is an intriguing and exciting time for industry watchers as there’s little doubt we are observing a significant and dynamic transition in consumer preference. While buyer demand for traditional passenger cars remains healthy, its clear consumers are gradually transitioning into other segments.”
“The growth, as was witnessed in 2016 and appears certain to continue in 2017, is in SUVs and light commercial vehicles, particularly dual cab utilities.”
Location, Location, Location!
Among the states and territories, those that experienced sales growth during 2016 compared with 2015 were New South Wales (+4.4%), Victoria (+3.4%), South Australia (+3.9%), ACT (+4.3%), Northern Territory (+2%) and Tasmania (+0.3%). The two states to decline were Western Australia (-5.6%) and Queensland (-1.1%).
It’s In The Mix
Surprisingly, SUV sales dropped a little compared to 2015. SUV’s finished with a -1.4% decrease on 2015 however passenger vehicles took a larger hit with a decline of -4.0% which was picked up by light commercial vehicles improving by 8.0%.
Toyota was once again Australia’s biggest selling car brand and led the market with 17.8% with the next closest manufacturer being Mazda with 10%. With Honda improving their sales by 21.5% from last year, they’ve managed to sneak into the Top 10 Selling Brand list for 2015, whilst Mazda also significantly improved over last year by 13.2%.
Top 10 Selling Brands - 2016
1. Toyota – 209,610 sales (up 1.6 percent)
2. Mazda - 118,217 (up 3.7 percent)
3. Hyundai – 101,555 (down 0.4.0 percent)
4. Holden – 94,308 (down 8.4 percent)
5. Ford - 81,207 (up 15.3 percent)
6. Mitsubishi - 73,368 (up 2.3 percent)
7. Nissan - 66,826 (up 1.2 percent)
8. Volkswagen – 56,571 (down 6.1 percent)
9. Subaru - 47,018 (up 7.8 percent)
10. Honda - 40,838 (up 1.8 percent)
Toyota closed the year with the taking the top two spots for the most sold make of 2016. Australia’s top selling vehicle for 2016 was the Toyota Hilux followed by the Toyota Corolla as we highlight the top five in the list below.
Top 10 Selling Models - 2016
1. Toyota Hilux - 42,104 sales
2. Toyota Corolla – 40,330
3. Hyundai i30 – 37,772
4. Ford Ranger – 36,934
5. Mazda3 – 36,107
