Australia November 2012: New gen pushes Toyota Corolla to #1, Camry ahead of Commodore again in record market

Toyota Corolla

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 25 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

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Australia continues to lodge outstanding numbers month after month, with November breaking the all-time record for the month at 98,347 registrations, which means the Australian new car market is above the 1 million mark after just 11 months for the first time in history at 1,016,605. However Australian website Drive notes that “official figures count a car as sold when it is registered, not when it is driven away by a customer, meaning dealers can register cars as demonstrators in order to reach official sales targets and collect factory bonuses. One senior industry said that practice could be inflating the market by as many as 250,000 cars” per year…

Looks like the Mazda3 will be the best-selling car in Australia again in 2012…

Toyota dominates the ranking again, placing 3 models in the Top 4 for the 2nd month in a row and only the 2nd time ever! Now that the new generation is widely available, the Toyota Corolla is back in pole position for the first time since December 2011, lodging its highest monthly volume since December 2010 at 4,190 sales (80% of which are the new gen) and its strongest market share since January 2012 at 4.3%. With this #1 spot, the Corolla is the only nameplate in Australia to have ranked #1 at least once each of the last 8 years as the Holden Commodore was last #1 in July 2011. It is the 19th time the Corolla tops the monthly Australian ranking, the first time being in September 2005. Check out my article on Australia 2013: Could this be the year of the Corolla? to get the model’s annual sales for each year since its introduction in the country in 1967.

Toyota Camry

The Mazda3 is very solid at #2 with 3,703 units and 3.8%, and is now nearly assured to grab the title of Australia’s best-selling car for the second time in a row by the end of the year with year-to-date sales adding up to 39,479 units and 3.9% vs. 37,526 and 3.7% for the Toyota Hilux, down to #4 in November. The other massive achievement from Toyota this month is the third place of the Toyota Camry with 3,145 sales and 3.2%, meaning it is the best-selling locally produced model above the Holden Commodore for the 2nd month in a row and only the third time ever after January 1995 and October 2012…

Ford Ranger

Utes (Australian for pick-up trucks) are slowly but surely invading the Top 10: below the Hilux which managed the incredible feat of ranking #1 for 6 of the last 8 months, the Ford Ranger is up to a best-ever #6 at 2,187 units and 2.2%, the Nissan Navara is up 2 to #8 and the Holden Colorado breaks into the Top 10 for only the second time ever after October 2008 at #9 with 1,956 sales and 2%.

Finally, notice the Ford Focus back in the Top 10 for the 4th time in the last 12 months at #10 with 1,920 units and 2%, the Hyundai i30 down to #11, the Hyundai i20 leading the light car segment thanks to 1,814 units sold and a record #12 spot, the Mazda CX-5 back to the SUV pole position at #13 with 1,637 sales and 1.7% and the Honda Civic up 5 to #15. The Ford Territory outsells the Ford Falcon again at 1,296 units vs. 1.206.

Previous post: Australia: Could 2013 be the year of the Corolla?

Previous month: Australia October 2012: Toyota Camry #1 locally built model

One year ago: Australia November 2011: Ford Territory at best in 5 years

Full November 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table: Click on ‘Read more’ below.

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