Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Mazda CX-5

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 20 best-selling models: click on title to see! *

The Australian new car market continues on its excellent run this year, up 7% year-on-year in April to 79,097 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 339,219 units, up 5% on 2011. Massive event this month: Mazda passes Holden for the first time ever to become the #2 manufacturer behind Toyota at 7,681 sales vs. 7,589 for Holden with Hyundai lurking in 4th position at 7,017 units. This is due to the combined effect of the exceptional success of the Mazda CX-5 already knocking on the Top 10′s door at #11 with 1,413 sales and 1.8% share and depleted stocks of Holden Colorado in the wake of the new model’s arrival in June.

Toyota Hilux

The Toyota Hilux takes the lead of the models ranking for the first time since April 2010 with 3,565 sales and 4.5%, its highest market share in Australia since December 2009! The Mazda3 is kicked down to 2nd place at 3,005 units and 3.8% but keeps the 2012 year-to-date pole position by far with 14,601 sales and 4.3%. The Toyota Corolla rounds up the podium at 2,573 units and 3.3% and ranks #2 year-to-date with 12,067 sales and 3.6%.

Toyota Prado

For only the second time ever after last January, the Holden Cruze outells its big brother Commodore with 2,315 units and 2.9% vs. 2,248 and 2.8%. The Commodore is still ahead year-to-date, but just with 10,596 sales vs. 10,520 for the Cruze. Another excellent month for the Toyota Prado up a further 2 spots on last month to #7 with 1,725 units and 2.2% while the Mitsubishi Triton reclaims its place in the Top 10 at #10. The Ford Focus and Territory both outsell the Falcon this month.

Previous month: Australia March 2012: Nissan at all-time high, places X-Trail #10

One year ago: Australia April 2011: Holden Cruze up to #4 for the first time

Full April 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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The Toyota Hilux is #1 in Queensland, Western Australia and Northern Territory

* See the Top 10 best-selling models State by State by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to Mike Breen and Ross McFairlane, I am able to share with you for the first time on Best Selling Cars Blog a Top 10 models ranking State by State in Australia! Out of the 1,008,437 vehicles that found a buyer in Australia in 2011, 314,576 did in New South Wales (capital Sydney), 268,194 in Victoria (capital Melbourne), 210,899 in Queensland (capital Brisbane), 109,492 in Western Australia (capital Perth), 62,760 in South Australia (capital Adelaide), 16,769 in Tasmania (capital Hobart), 15,756 in the Australian Capital Territory (capital Canberra) and 9,991 in Nothern Territory (capital Darwin).

The Mazda3 is #1 in New South Wales and ACT

The Mazda3 made history this year by stopping 15 consecutive years of Holden Commodore domination, and did it thanks to its performance in NSW where it sold 14,661 units for a 4.7% market share followed by the Toyota Corolla and the Commodore. The Mazda3 also ranked #1 in ACT with 874 sales and 5.5%. However one model managed to rank first in more states…

The Toyota Land Cruiser Ute is #7 in Northern Territory

The Toyota Hilux is the king in Queensland at 10,251 units and 4.9% but also in WA with 6,004 sales and 5.5% where it is very helpful around the numerous mining sites currently booming in the state. In Northern Territory the Hilux sold 980 units for a 9.8% market share, the highest share of any vehicle in any state. Toyota actually monopolises the entire Top 5 in NT with the Corolla #2 followed by the Land Cruiser Wagon (vs.#35 nationally), Camry and Prado (vs.#28) while the Land Cruiser Ute ranks #7 (vs.#47).

The Holden Commodore & Cruze lead at home in South Australia

#2 nationally, the Holden Commodore leads in 2 states: in Victoria with 13,128 sales and 4.9% (vs. 10,880 for the Mazda3) and in South Australia where it is manufactured like all Holdens at 4,826 units and 7.7%. Relaunched last year, the Holden Cruze logically delivers its best performance in its homestate SA at #2 with 3,535 sales and 5.6% share. It ranks #3 in ACT and VIC.

The Ford Ranger is #1 in Tasmania (2012 model pictured)

The last model to reach a State pole position is the Ford Ranger, dominating in Tasmania at 681 units and 4.1%. The Hyundai i30 ranks #2 in that state at 3.7% share but also in WA at a very solid 4% thanks to 4,358 sales. Ford’s factory is located in Broadmeadows in Victoria and in its homeland the Falcon is at its best at #5 while the Territory is #6. Notice also the VW Golf ranking #4 in ACT and #7 in NSW.

National post: Australia Full Year 2011: Mazda3 breaks 15 years of Holden Commodore domination

Full Year 2011 Top 10 Ranking Tables for each State below.

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Nissan X-Trail

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 269 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

The Australian market continues to lodge solid month after solid month, up 4% year-on-year in March to 97,616 registrations and bringing the year-to-date total to 260,122 units, up 5% on 2011. Now it’s getting really serious: after becoming Australia’s favourite car over the Full Year 2011, for the first time the Mazda3 manages to stay #1 for the third month in a row in March with 3,818 sales and 3.9%. It is the 5th time in the last 10 months the 3 is #1 in Australia.

Now with Thai production levels back to normal after the floods, the Toyota Hilux is up to 2nd place for the first time since last October and only the 3rd time in the last 12 months at 3,561 units and 3.6%, ahead of the Holden Commodore, Toyota Corolla and Holden Cruze, surprisingly flat in spite of the arrival of the hatchback version.

Mazda CX-5

The Nissan Navara is up to #6 for the first time since last May and the Nissan X-Trail breaks into the Australian Top 10 possibly for the very first time at #10, making Nissan the 4th best-selling brand in the country this month after Toyota, Holden and Mazda and kicking Ford down to #6 for the first time. Nissan’s 8,312 sales is the brand’s all-time record in Australia since becoming a full importer over 20 years ago.

Subaru XV

Mazda also has a record month thanks to the thunderous arrival of the Mazda CX-5 in 19th position for its first full month of sales in the country with 1,419 units sold. Australia is the CX-5′s 2nd best-performing country in the world so far behind the Netherlands where it ranks #18 this month… The Subaru XV continues to impress and leads the small SUV category for the 2nd month in a row with 1,002 sales and 1% share at #29.

Great Wall V-Series

Further down the ranking, the Great Wall V-Series pick-up shines at #40 with 719 units and 0.7% (and #38 year-to-date!), which means the summer of 2011-2012 will be remembered as the time the first Chinese model broke into the Australian Top 50. Other great performers this month include the VW Amarok at #52, Jeep Compass at #69, VW Jetta at #77, Hyundai i40 at #100 and Kia Optima at #101.

Previous month: Australia February 2012: Mazda3 #1, Subaru XV leads category!

One year ago: Australia March 2011: Commodore #1, Lexus CT and Chery land

Full March 2012 Top 269 Ranking Table below.

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Mazda3

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 50 best-selling models! Click on title to see – thanks to JB *

* The January post has been updated too with a Top 50 models ranking. Click here to see! *

Very healthy performance for the Australian car market in February: up 6% year-on-year to 85,723 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 162,506 units, up 5% on 2011. The Mazda3 confirms it is Australia’s favourite car, after leading the market over the Full Year 2011 and in January, topping the charts again this month with 3,733 sales and 4.4% share. It is the 4th time in the last 9 months the 3 is #1 and the first time it leads the Australian market 2 months in a row.

The Toyota Corolla stays in 2nd place at 2,991 units and 3.5% but is a tie this month with the Holden Commodore, recuperating from a disastrous month of January and claiming back Holden’s crown with the Cruze down to #4 albeit at 2,880 sales and 3.4% up from 3.2% last month. The Cruze is #3 year-to-date however at 5,325 sales and 3.3%. The Toyota Hilux jumps back to #6 now that Thai supply issues are resolved, while the Mazda2 continues to lead the light category at a solid #8 and 2.1% share.

Subaru XV

The Ford Focus brilliantly maintains itself within the Top 10 whereas further down, this month’s big event is the thunderous arrival of the new Subaru XV: with 1,005 sales for its first full month in the country, it ranks #26 and already tops the small SUV category, ahead of the Nissan Dualis and Hyundai ix35! A very promising start for the Subaru…

Other good performers this month include the Toyota Prado up 15 spots to #12, Ford Territory up 17 ranks to #13, Honda Accord Euro up 15 spots to #20, Mazda BT-50 up 22 ranks to #22 and Honda Jazz up to #32. The Ford Falcon is up 6 spots from its January’s horrendous 24th place but at #18 with 1.4% it is still struggling.

Previous post: Australia January 2012: Holden Commodore not Holden’s #1 for first time since ’78

One year ago: Australia February 2011: Holden Commodore #1, Mazda3 #1 year-to-date

Full February 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Assembly of the Toyota Corona in Australia started in January 1966

* Click on the title for many more vintage pictures! *

When Japanese car manufacturers were ready to explore the world, their first choice for export destination wasn’t in Asia. It was Australia. As early as August 1958, the first Japanese light car to reach Australian shores since World War 2 was a Datsun. By 1968, a dozen Japanese brands were established in the country.

Some of Wheels covers featuring Japanese models 1958-1968 (click on image to enlarge)

Between June 1965 and August 1967, the cover of Wheels magazine would feature a Japanese model no less than 9 times! The first model to have that honour was the Daihatsu Berlina in June ’65, followed by the Hino Contessa, Toyota 2000GT, Toyota Corona, Datsun Cedric, Mazda 1000, Mazda 1500, Toyota Corolla, Datsun 1600 SSS and the tiny Honda Scamp in July 1968.

1958 Datsun, the first Japanese car to land in Australia after World War 2

Japanese manufacturers used Australia as a trial export market before spreading to the US and Europe, and it worked very well for them. In those ten years they managed a perfect landing in Australia, a very significant event in a market that was then dominated by US and English brands. It was the start of a complete reshuffle of the Australian car landscape that would result, 50 years later, in Toyota leading the way by far among many other very successful brands.

1967 Toyota Corolla 

Very quickly after exporting their first models to Australia, some Japanese manufacturers switched to local assembly. Toyota was the first one, with the Corona being assembled in Melbourne as early as January 1966, followed by the Crown that same year and the Corolla in 1968, only one year after its Japanese launch. This makes Australia the first overseas country to ever assemble the Corolla!  

1961 Datsun Cedric

The other manufacturer to opt for local assembly very fast is Datsun with the 1600 in 1967 and the 1000 in 1968. If the very first ‘Toyopet”, Datsun and Daihatsus didn’t impress with their quality, by the mid-sixties most Japanese cars were rather well rated by the press, with the bigger models like the Toyota Crown accepted as true threats for the class-leading Holdens and Ford Falcons…

1966 Isuzu Bellett

To understand the importance of Australia in Japan and Toyota’s export strategy, a few figures are telling: in 1965, Toyota sold 17,300 vehicles in Australia, up 52% on 1964 and by far its strongest export market. This is to be compared with 8,900 units in the USA (+141%), 6,600 in South Africa (+16%), 3,700 in Thailand (+140%) and 3,000 in Canada where it was Toyota’s first year. In Europe, Denmark, Finland (2,800 each) and the Netherlands (1,500) are Toyota’s strongest markets in 1965.

1965 Hino Contessa

Most Japanese manufacturers were busy creating vehicles in all categories at that time and it’s interesting to notice Isuzu doing very well in the passenger car segment (one that it has all but abandoned these days) with the Bellett and Florian. Similarly, Hino, now a heavy truck specialist, had the Contessa, loosely based on the Renault 8.

See the general article about Australia 1960-1968 here

Many more vintage pictures below.

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1960 Holden and Ford Falcon

After allowing Holden to be the only ‘true’ Australian car for 12 long years, Ford launched the Falcon in November 1960 and proposed an Australian-built alternative to the Holden sold in the country since 1948. The Falcon nameplate will end up being by far Ford’s most popular in Australia.

Unfortunately for Ford, the first generations of Falcon had reliability issues, and as a result, Holden keeps the lead by far in the Australian market with over 10,000 units sold per month throughout the sixties. In 1961, Holden holds 50% of the total market, with Ford #2 at 17% and Volkswagen (thanks to the Beetle) and BMC (thanks to the Mini) both at 8%.

VW Beetle and BMC Mini Cooper

In July 1963, the strongest ever month for the Australia market so far at 29,644 registrations, Holden is still the runaway leader with 46.9% of the market, ahead of Ford at 14.9% (including 10.6% for the Falcon), BMC boosted by the Mini at 12.2%, VW weaker due to the ageing Beetle at 7.1% and Chrysler revitalised by the Valiant at 6.2%.

1961 Chrysler Valiant

1963 Ford Fairlane

1962 Holden 

Holden reacts in 1962 with the EJ then the EH in 1963 which would achieve the highest production rates in Holden’s history: 13,524 per month. Both Holden and Ford Falcon opt for more rectangular fronts in the second half of the decade…

1966 Holden

The Falcon sees its monthly production go from 3,920 for the 1964 XM to 6,223 for the 1969 XW. Holden is still far ahead however, between 11,000 and 12.000 monthly units were produced during that period.

1968 Ford Falcon

This period is also the time Japanese brands landed (successfully) in Australia. See the article about this change here:

Australia 1958-1968: Toyota and Japan’s first export market

Previous post: Australia 1949-1959: Holden ‘Australia’s own’ launches

MANY more vintage pictures, sales data and Holden/Falcon production figures below.

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Holden Cruze

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 50 best-selling models: click on the title to see! *

New car sales in Australia are up an encouraging 4% in January at 76,783 registrations. A few big benchmarks are passed this month. First, the Mazda3 confirms its title of Australia’s best-selling car acquired in 2011 when it put an end to 15 years of Holden Commodore domination by reaching its best-ever monthly market share this month at an outstanding 5.3% thanks to 4,045 sales. It is the third time in 8 months the 3 leads the Australian monthly ranking after June and August 2011, and the fourth time ever with January 2009. The 3 also hits the highest market share by any model in Australia since the 5.5% of the Toyota Corolla in January 2011.

Mazda3

The second benchmark, and it’s a massive one, is the Holden Cruze passing the Commodore for the first time in history to become the brand’s best-seller at #3 overall with 2,445 units and 3.2% share thanks to the addition of the new hatchback version also produced in Adelaide. It is the first time since its launch in 1978 that the Holden Commodore is not Holden’s top seller. In January it falls to just 2,170 units and 2.8% share, its lowest ever monthly volume and market share.

Ford Falcon

Finally the Ford Falcon, once the Commodore’s archenemy, suffers from large cars going out of fashion in the country and the effect of a freak hailstorm in Melbourne that damaged 500 vehicles in December to hit its lowest monthly volume ever recorded since the launch of the Falcon nameplate in 1961, falling below 1,000 units for the first time at 931 sales and 1.2% share.

Notice also the fantastic 6th place of the Mazda2, leading its category with 1,624 units and 2.1%. This is the 2′s highest monthly ranking ever, beating the 7th place it reached last August. The Ford Focus is up to a brilliant 8th position, the Holden Barina up to #11, Mazda CX-7 up to #14 and the Toyota Hilux is down to #17, penalised with supply issues from Thailand. Great Wall is up 68% on January 2011 at 868 sales.

Previous post: Australia Full Year 2011: Mazda3 breaks 15 years of Holden Commodore domination

One year ago: Australia January 2011: Toyota Corolla #1 for third consecutive month

Full January 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Great Wall V240

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JB *

Given the Australian Full Year 2011 article (that I have just updated) is already quite full of information, I have created a separate post to zoom in on the performance of Chinese manufacturers in the country. There are now 3 Chinese brands present in Australia and this number is set to increase in the next few months.

Great Wall was the first to land Down Under 2 years ago and has seen its success confirmed this year, with most of its range already renewed. It is now the #16 brand in the country with 8,665 sales, up 30% on 2010 and way above brands like Peugeot (5,220) or Renault (3,622).

The best-selling Chinese model in Australia in 2011 is the Great Wall V240 (aka Wingle) at #64 in the general ranking with 4,384 sales and 0.4% share, up a massive 41% and 12 spots year-on-year. It reached its highest-ever position in May at #54 thanks to 434 sales (0.6%), as a Chinese model has yet to officially break into the monthly Australian Top 50 (but see below, it may have already happened…).

Chery J11

The Great Wall X240 (aka Hover) was last year’s Chinese best-seller but is now #2 and #77 overall with sales dipping slightly at 3,047 units and 0.3% (-7%). However this order is set to change again in 2012 with the new Great Wall V200 making great progress and leading the pack in December at #67 overall with 302 sales and 0.4%. The V200 is in effect the same car as the V240 and in December both models add up to 539 sales to reach a brilliant 47th place…

Chery J3

Chery is all-new to Australia and it landed with 4 new models in 2011, totalling 1,822 sales to rank #27 in the manufacturers ladder, above brands like Fiat, Citroen or Alfa Romeo. Not bad for a first year! The most successful so far has been the Chery J11 (aka Tiggo) at # 133 with 1,114 sales and 0.1% over the full year however in December the Chery J3 is on top at #137 with 80 units sold. Other Chery models on sale are the J1 (#165 in 2011) and the A3 with 2 sales this year.

Lastly Geely has also launched in 2011 but only in Western Australia because of different design legislations in that state. The lack of optional automatic transmission and unavailability of electronic stability control has prevented it to be launched in any other Australian State and VFACTS doesn’t seem to report Geely’s sales which stand at an unconfirmed one unit for 2011…

Foton Tunland

At least one additional Chinese brand has been confirmed for Australia in 2012: Foton will try to emulate Great Wall’s success and launch the Foton Tunland ute in April. So stay tuned for updates during 2012…

See the Australia Full Year 2011 post here

Full Year and December 2011 Top 10 Ranking Table below.

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Mazda3

* NOW UPDATED with the All-models Top 290 ranking! Click on the title to see - The 2010 post has also been updated with an All-models Top 280 ranking. Many thanks to JB! *

The industry thought the Toyota Corolla would do it in 2007, but it happened this year. The 15 years of uninterrupted Holden Commodore domination have come to a shocking end: in 2011 the Mazda3 is the best-selling car in Australia. In a market down 3% but millionaire for only the 4th time in history at 1,008,437 registrations, the 3 sold 41,429 units, up 6% for a 4.1% market share vs. 40,617, down 12% for the Commodore. Strangely the Commodore was #1 of the monthly ranking 5 times this year vs. only 2 for the Mazda.

Advertising for the launch of the Holden Commodore in 1978

This puts an end to 33 years of reign of the Holden Commodore-Ford Falcon tandem (or “Falcadore”), one of the longest-lasting and most disputed rivalry in the world, even though Falcon sales had significantly weakened over the last few years. To understand the magnitude of this change, it’s a bit like if the VW Golf was not #1 anymore in Germany, replaced by the Renault Megane…

Holden launched in Australia in 1948

In fact, Australian-built models had been dominating the market since 1949 and the launch of the first “Holden”. The Ford Falcon launch in 1960 transformed the market into a Ford-Holden fight for the title of best-selling model. It is well and truly possible that this year is the first time since Australia started manufacturing Holdens in 1948 that an imported car leads car sales in the country! * This is not 100% verified so if you know more please comment on here *

Toyota Hilux

Staying at #3 but with sales down 9% at 36,124 units, the Toyota Hilux should get revived in 2012 with the new generation in dealerships since November. The Toyota Corolla is just 37 units below at #4 (-13%) and curiously managed to lead the market 5 times this year. The Japanese tsunami kicked it out of the Top 10 for a couple of months and was enough to prevent it a spot on the podium, but 2012 should be much better with a new model scheduled to arrive in October.

Holden Cruze

The Holden Cruze is one of the success stories of 2011, with production switching to Adelaide during the year. Sales are up 19% to 33,784 units, it broke onto the podium 3 times this year and was just 31 units short of the Commodore in December. With the arrival of the hatchback version in late 2011, the Cruze should be Holden’s best-seller in 2012, and it would be the first time ever in the nameplate’s history that the Commodore is not the firm’s most popular model…

VW Golf

The other star of 2011 is the VW Golf, finishing the year up 21% to #11 with 18,682 sales but managing an incredible 3rd place in October with 3,337 sales and 3.9%, by far the brand’s best ever showing in Australia. Other good performers this year include the Nissan Navara reappearing in the annual Top 10 at #7 and the Mazda2 up to #12 and leading its category ahead of the Toyota Yaris.

Ford Territory

While the Falcon drowned to its lowest ever sales in the 41 years of the nameplate’s life at 18,741 units (-37%), Ford had a very good year with other models: the Ranger is up 4 spots to #15, the Territory is up 11 ranks to #16, breaking into the Top 10 for the first time in 5 years in July, the Focus is up 12 spots to #19 and the Fiesta is up 8 ranks to #21.

Further down the ranking, notice the Nissan Dualis up to #34, Great Wall V240 up to #63, Hyundai Accent up to #70, VW Amarok landing at #86, Toyota FJ Cruiser landing at #106 and Audi A1 directly at #109.

In December, 82,459 cars were registered in Australia, down 5% year-on-year. The Toyota Corolla is #1 for the 4th month in a row at 4.4%, the Toyota Yaris is up to #6, the Ford Focus breaks into the Top 10 for the first time in years and the Nissan Dualis passes the 1,000 sales mark for the first time.

Previous month: Australia November 2011: Ford Territory at best in 5 years

Previous year: Australia Full Year 2010: Holden Commodore #1 for 15th year in a row, now with full Top 280 ranking

Full Year 2011 Top 291 and December Top 264 Ranking Tables below.

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Ford Territory

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 20 best-selling models: click on the title to see *

After months of supply chain disruption due to the Japan earthquake tsunami and Thai floods, the Australian market confirms its last quarter will be a positive one, up 1.5% year-on-year in November at 88,654 registrations and bringing the year-to-date total to 925,978 sales, down 2% but on route to pass the million mark for only the fourth year in history.

Discreetly, the Toyota Corolla catches up on a lot of missed sales and lodges its third consecutive month on top of the Australian models ranking, its fourth this year, with 3,731 sales and 4.2% share, however still #4 year-to-date at 32,468 units and 3.5%.

Mazda3

The real winner this month is the Mazda3, a strong #2 at 3,480 sales and 3.9%, a score that enables it to snap the 2011 year-to-date pole position away from the Holden Commodore once again with 38,104 sales vs. 37,803, both models being at 4.1% share. Already very weak in October, the Commodore delivers an even paltrier November at #4 with 2,808 units and 3.2%, its lowest share and first time below 3,000 monthly units in over 20 years…

The month of December will decide what will be ‘Australia’s best-selling car’, so expect Holden and Mazda to fight with heavy promotions in order to secure the #1 position the Holden Commodore has held for the last 15 years…

The Toyota Hilux holds itself onto the podium both in November (3.8%) and year-to-date (3.7%) and the Holden Cruze awaits the arrival of the hatchback, slowing down to 2.7% at #5. The Ford Territory jumps up to #7, its best position since June 2006, with an excellent 1,776 sales and 2% share. It is the first time ever the Territory outsells the legendary Falcon (#13 this month) upon which it is based.

Thanks to the new generation now in dealerships, the Toyota Yaris reappears in the Top 10 for the first time since January at #8 whereas for the Toyota RAV4 it’s a bit more of an event as it is simply the first time the RAV4 nameplate manages to break into the Australian monthly Top 10! Notice the Hyundai Accent climbing up the ladder to #21 this month, thanks in part to a significant delivery for car share company Go Get.

Previous month: Australia October 2011 VW Golf on podium

Full November 2011 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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