Australia: 1990-2012 Nameplates records now available!
The Holden Commodore sold 94,642 units in Australia in 1998, an all-time record.
* See the Top 50 most successful nameplates in Australia by clicking on the title! *
* See the Full Year 2012 post here *
This Australian update is brought to you by APIA car insurance.
This ranking has now been updated with 2012 figures, and with a record year come a lot of nameplate records: the Mazda3 delivers its best year ever at 44,128 sales, the Toyota Hilux is up to #2 for the first time, the Nissan Navara is up to #15 most successful nameplate at 26,045 units, the Ford Focus breaks into the year-end Top 10 for the first time and also lodge best-ever annual sales, as do the Mitsubishi Triton, Ford Ranger, Mazda2, Toyota Prado and Nissan X-Trail. The Mazda CX-5, Hyundai i20 and Nissan Dualis make their first appearance in the Top 50 most popular nameplate in Australia since 1990.
The Mazda3 beat its annual sales record in 2012
The original post starts here: Now that year-end detailed models rankings for Australia are available without interruption since 1990, I can give you a summary of the most popular nameplates over the period! They are ranked by yearly volume record, with info on their record market share and position also included. No surprise on top: the Holden Commodore holds the nameplate all-time record with 94,642 units sold in 1998. It’s fair to say that this record is in safe hands: with the fragmentation of the market, last year’s leader has sold just over 44,000 units.
Ford Falcon
Note that the Commodore’s market share record is a nowadays-impossible 12.8%, reached in 1996 while the Ford Falcon, whose volume record was reached in 1995 (81,366) also hit a huge 12.7% share that year. The Toyota Corolla is the third most popular nameplate in Australia over the last 20 years with a record of 47,901 sales in 2008. The Mazda3 follows at 44,128 units in 2012, ahead of the Hyundai Excel at 44,018 sales in 1998, the Toyota Hilux at 42,956 in 2008 and the Toyota Camry at 42,522 in 1999.
Toyota Corolla in Broken Hill, Australia in April 2008
The rest of the Top 10 is composed of the Mitsubishi Magna at 41,008 sales in 1997, the Holden Astra at 34,218 units in 2005 and the Holden Cruze at 33,474 sales in 2011. Note that the above models along with the Ford Laser and Hyundai i30 are the only 12 nameplates to ever rank within the year-end Top 5 in Australia over the period.
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See the Top 50 most successful nameplates in Australia in 1990-2012 below.
Australia nameplate records (1990-2012):
| Pos | Model | Volume | Year | Share | Year | Pos | Year |
| 1 | Holden Commodore | 94,642 | 1998 | 12.8% | 1996 | 1 | 1990 |
| 2 | Ford Falcon | 81,366 | 1995 | 12.7% | 1995 | 1 | 1992 |
| 3 | Toyota Corolla | 47,901 | 2008 | 5.8% | 1990 | 2 | 2006 |
| 4 | Mazda3 | 44,128 | 2012 | 4.1% | 2011 | 1 | 2011 |
| 5 | Hyundai Excel | 44,018 | 1998 | 5.5% | 1998 | 3 | 1996 |
| 6 | Toyota Hilux | 42,956 | 2008 | 4.2% | 2008 | 2 | 2012 |
| 7 | Toyota Camry | 42,522 | 1999 | 5.9% | 1993 | 3 | 1999 |
| 8 | Mitsubishi Magna | 41,008 | 1997 | 6.8% | 1993 | 3 | 1991 |
| 9 | Holden Astra | 34,218 | 2005 | 3.7% | 2001 | 4 | 2001 |
| 10 | Holden Cruze | 33,784 | 2011 | 3.4% | 2011 | 5 | 2011 |
| 11 | Ford Laser | 32,749 | 1990 | 5.4% | 1991 | 4 | 1990 |
| 12 | Hyundai i30 | 29,772 | 2010 | 2.9% | 2010 | 5 | 2010 |
| 13 | Toyota Yaris | 29,663 | 2007 | 2.9% | 2006 | 6 | 2007 |
| 14 | Nissan Pulsar | 27,577 | 1990 | 4.5% | 1990 | 7 | 1990 |
| 15 | Nissan Navara | 26,045 | 2012 | 2.3% | 2012 | 7 | 2011 |
| 16 | Holden Rodeo | 24,582 | 2005 | 2.5% | 2004 | 7 | 2004 |
| 17 | Ford Territory | 23,454 | 2005 | 2.4% | 2005 | 9 | 2005 |
| 18 | Mitsubishi Lancer | 23,076 | 2010 | 2.6% | 2000 | 7 | 2009 |
| 19 | Holden Ute | 22,372 | 2004 | 2.4% | 2004 | 8 | 2004 |
| 20 | Toyota Aurion | 22,036 | 2007 | 2.1% | 2007 | 8 | 2007 |
| 21 | Hyundai Getz | 21,547 | 2010 | 2.2% | 2006 | 8 | 2006 |
| 22 | Ford Ute | 20,325 | 2004 | 2.3% | 2003 | 8 | 2003 |
| 23 | Ford Festiva | 20,170 | 1998 | 2.5% | 1995 | 8 | 1995 |
| 24 | VW Golf | 18,682 | 2011 | 1.9% | 2011 | 11 | 2011 |
| 25 | Ford Focus | 18,586 | 2012 | 1.8% | 2006 | 10 | 2012 |
| 26 | Mitsubishi Triton | 18,502 | 2012 | 1.9% | 2009 | 11 | 2012 |
| 27 | Ford Ranger | 18,097 | 2012 | 1.6% | 2012 | 12 | 2012 |
| 28 | Toyota Echo | 17,879 | 2004 | 1.9% | 2003 | 12 | 2004 |
| 29 | Honda Civic | 17,643 | 2007 | 1.7% | 2007 | 12 | 2008 |
| 30 | Mazda2 | 17,574 | 2012 | 1.7% | 2011 | 12 | 2011 |
| 31 | Toyota Prado | 17,045 | 2012 | 1.8% | 2004 | 13 | 2004 |
| 32 | Toyota Starlet | 16,283 | 1998 | 2.0% | 1998 | 11 | 1998 |
| 33 | Nissan X-Trail | 16,066 | 2012 | 1.4% | 2003 | 16 | 2012 |
| 34 | Mazda 323 | 15,941 | 2002 | 2.0% | 2002 | 11 | 2002 |
| 35 | Mazda CX-5 | 15,861 | 2012 | 1.4% | 2012 | 17 | 2012 |
| 36 | Hyundai Accent | 15,109 | 2002 | 1.9% | 2002 | 14 | 2002 |
| 37 | Holden Colorado | 14,983 | 2009 | 1.6% | 2009 | 13 | 2009 |
| 38 | Toyota RAV4 | 14,834 | 2006 | 1.5% | 2002 | 15 | 2006 |
| 39 | Mazda6 | 14,783 | 2005 | 1.5% | 2005 | 15 | 2005 |
| 40 | Subaru Forester | 14,644 | 2010 | 1.5% | 2009 | 16 | 2009 |
| 41 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 14,425 | 2003 | 2.3% | 1993 | 8 | 1993 |
| 42 | Nissan Tiida | 13,756 | 2007 | 1.3% | 2007 | 21 | 2007 |
| 43 | Holden Barina | 13,635 | 2006 | 1.8% | 1995 | 11 | 1995 |
| 44 | Toyota Kluger | 13,424 | 2008 | 1.4% | 2009 | 19 | 2009 |
| 45 | Hyundai i20 | 13,339 | 2012 | 1.2% | 2012 | 23 | 2012 |
| 46 | Hyundai Elantra | 13,287 | 2005 | 1.4% | 2004 | 18 | 2005 |
| 47 | Suzuki Swift | 13,283 | 2007 | 1.3% | 2007 | 22 | 2007 |
| 48 | Nissan Dualis | 13,141 | 2012 | 1.2% | 2012 | 25 | 2012 |
| 49 | Honda CR-V | 12,866 | 2000 | 1.6% | 2000 | 13 | 2000 |
| 50 | Mitsubishi 380 | 12,426 | 2006 | 1.3% | 2006 | 23 | 2006 |
Source: VFACTS, many thanks to David and Paul for sharing the data!
@Frank Stevens
Toyota Land Cruiser name has been around since 1951.
As ever, very interesting Matt.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that by my reckoning the Falcon is the longest continuing nameplate of any marque anywhere in the world, with over 50 years uninterrupted and loyal service for Ford Aus.
Some might argue that the Corvette name has been around longer (since ’55), but it’s effectively a stand-alone marque and division of GM in its own right.
The Chevy Impala has been around since 1958, but it suffered a seven year hiatus in the mid nineties.
@matgasnier
Fair enough. Anyway I have the official VFACTs report from 2004 and it states 22372.
Cool – corrected now
cheers
Matt
Nicely done. A few small corrections – the Holden Ute record is actually 22,372, in 2004. The 1999 record for Camry actually also includes Vienta, which was a separate nameplate. If you want to count “Camry family” then technically the record is held by Camry/Aurion in 2008 with 48,380. The same also applies to Magna and Verada.
Thanks David
Weirdly I have 23.311 units for the Holden Ute in 2004…
I get your point about the Camry/Vienta, however given the Vienta was so similar to the Camry (unlike with the Aurion) I decided to keep the figure including the Vienta.
cheers
Matt