VFACTS for May: Big month for Hyundai i30
Sales of Hyundai's small hatch is over 400 ahead of nearest competitorThe Hyundai i30 was the biggest-selling car in the nation last month, according to VFACTS figures for May released today.
Combining sales of the i30 with those of the sedan counterpart, the Elantra, Hyundai's small car sales for the year to date are as much as 2600 units clear of the second-placed small car in the market, the Toyota Corolla. Sales of the i30 hatch alone remain ahead of both the Corolla and third-placed Mazda3.
Despite Hyundai's strong showing in May, the brand has grown by around nine per cent (fewer than 800 extra sales) year on year, according to confidential sources. In contrast, Mazda sold around 900 extra cars in May – for year on year growth of around 10 per cent – and Toyota sold close to 1300 more cars during the month.
The total market grew by just 3.6 per cent during the month, which is marginally less than the rate of growth in total sales volume for the year to date.
In May, nearly 96,672 new vehicles were sold – over 3000 more than May 2015 – taking the year to date total to around 469,571. That clearly points to another market well above a million cars in 2016, and another new record for the industry.
Passenger-vehicle sales continue to decline and SUVs are rapidly approaching the traditional passenger car for sales. Last month 2000 fewer passenger cars found homes than in May 2015, but nearly 4000 more SUVs were sold. The gap between passenger car sales in May (roughly 38,000) and SUVs (36,000) is less than 2000. And in year to date figures, the gap is less than 17,000 – 193,317 for passenger cars, 176,382 for SUVs.
Private buyers are far and away the biggest buyer type for SUVs, but as a proportion of the class, private buyers are not as influential in the growth of the class as business and rental fleets. In May businesses – and likely novated-lease 'user choosers' – accounted for about 2500 more SUV sales, but the growth in SUVs from private and rental buyers was around 500 each.
Volkswagen sold about 700 fewer cars in May, and its year to date sales figures are slightly down on last year's, in a growing market. Much of that shortfall, is believed to be due to supply problems with the Tiguan – now effectively in run-out mode ahead of the all-new model arriving in September. With rare exception, however, most Volkswagen models sold in fewer numbers during May than they did in May 2015.
Volvo's XC90 is understood to have hit three figures for the first time during May. The second-generation model was released in August last year, and has outsold the previous model in year to date sales during 2016.
Top selling brands for the year to date are: Toyota (80,261), Mazda (48,518), Hyundai (42,050), Holden (36,634), Ford (32,067), Mitsubishi (28,539), Nissan (26,992), Volkswagen (23,876), Subaru (18,926) and Mercedes-Benz (16,739). Holden and Volkswagen are the only brands in the top 10 to sell fewer cars for the year to date.
The top 10 cars for May were: Hyundai i30 (3771), Toyota HiLux (3675), Toyota Corolla (3333), Mazda3 (3243), Ford Ranger (3115), Holden Commodore (2255), Mazda CX-5 (2117), Mitsubishi Triton (2021), Volkswagen Golf (1840) and Nissan Navara (1751).
The top 10 cars for the year to date are: Toyota Hilux (16,558), Hyundai i30 (16,425), Toyota Corolla (16,117), Mazda3 (15,976), Ford Ranger (14,121), Holden Commodore (10,295), Mazda CX-5 (9950), Mitsubishi Triton (9568), Volkswagen Golf (8597) and Hyundai Tucson (8128).
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