Australia February 2013: Brands podium 100% Japanese for the first time in history

The new Pulsar (#19 in February) should help Nissan stay high in the ranking in 2013.

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 25 models and Top 47 All-brands! Click on title to see *

Australian new car sales are up 5% year-on-year in February to 90,218 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 175,648 units, up 8% on 2012. This month the big news is in the brands ranking. Shock, horror: for the first time in the history of automobile in the country, the podium is 100% Japanese. Toyota leads as usual with 15,992 sales, followed by Mazda extremely robust at #2 for the third month in a row and the 5th time ever at 8,728 units. The big surprise is the third place of Nissan with 8,225 sales, up a whopping 32% year-on-year, meaning Holden is kicked out of the Australian podium for the first time since the carmaker started manufacturing in the country just after the end of World War 2. Check out Mechanic Advisor.

The Nissan Dualis breaks into the Australian Top 10 for the first time this month.

This is the first time in Nissan’s history that it outsells Holden, and the second time in a year Nissan has beaten Ford. It comes less than a year after Mazda managed to outsell Holden for the first time, and has now done so 5 times. Holden claims its February flop was caused by a computer glitch that restricted dealers from reporting sales. It is even threatened by Hyundai this month, selling 7,687 units (-20%) vs. 7,505  for the Korean manufacturer. Ford is down 5% at #6 with 6,590 sales while Honda is up 48% to #9 and 3,862 sales thanks to the new CR-V.

The Mitsubishi Triton ranks within the monthly Aussie Top 5 for the first time in February.

This situation is partly due to the combination of a record-high Australian dollar and a devalued Japanese Yen, which has enabled Australian importers of Japanese cars to offer abnormally sharp discounts. Holden director of government and corporate affairs Matt Hobbs told News Limited “We have not seen this sort of currency pressure since the 1970s.” Model-wise, the Mazda3 enjoys its third consecutive month in pole position in spite of sales down 10% year-on-year to 3,378 units. The Toyota Hilux is close behind at 3,319 (+46%) with the Toyota Corolla rounding up the podium with 3,158 sales. Only two locally-produced models manage to rank within the Top 10: the Holden Commodore (#8 at -42%) and Cruze (#9 at -40%)…

Ford Ranger

The Nissan Navara renews last’s month outstanding performance, staying at a record 4th position thanks to sales up 31% on February 2012 to 2,639. In fact for the first time ever, there are no less than 4 utes (Australian for pick-up trucks) in the Top 7 this month! The Mitsubishi Triton shoots up 73% to a best-ever 5th place at 2,336 units and the Ford Ranger is up an even more impressive 118% to #7 with 1,739 sales. The Nissan Dualis (aka Qashqai) breaks into the Aussie monthly Top 10 for the first time at #10 and 1,548 units, up 70% year-on-year. Notice also the Hyundai ix35 up to a record #12, the Mazda BT-50 up 6 ranks to #15, the Nissan Pulsar landing directly at #19 for its first full month of sales at 1,275 units and the Mitsubishi Mirage at #26.

Previous month: Australia January 2013: Nissan Navara and Ford Focus break records

One year ago: Australia February 2012: Mazda3 #1, Subaru XV leads category!

Full February 2013 Top 25 models and Top 47 All-brands Ranking Tables below.