The brands defying the COVID-19 trend

Audi and Genesis are the only luxury auto brands to sell more vehicles in Australia so far this year than they did during the first eight months of 2019, according to August VFACTS figures.

And budget brands that outperformed longer established names last month included Great Wall, Haval, LDV, MG and SsangYong.

At least two of those brands specialise in commercial vehicles, much like Mercedes-Benz Vans and American brand RAM, which have also both kept in front of their sales 2019 numbers.

The number of budget marques selling more commercial vehicles this year than in 2019 suggests those brands have benefited from the instant asset tax write-off.

As for many prestige vehicle importers, Audi lost a lot of ground in August, due in no doubt to metro Melbourne’s Stage 4 lockdown.

With 9552 vehicles sold nationwide this year, Audi is just 1.4 per cent ahead of the same period in 2019 (9421 sales), aided by the introduction of a host of recent new model releases. The brand would have been further in front if its August tally hadn’t dropped from 1365 last year to 1008.

While the A3, the new Q3 and the A6 continued to sell strongly for the month, and the A1 made a return to the sales stats after last year’s fuel economy related WLTP hiatus, every other model in the range was in sales decline during August.

Genesis sales haven’t yet cracked it for triple digits this year, but the fledgling Korean brand is close, at 99 so far. That’s 20 sales ahead of the score at the same point last year, helped primarily by the admirable G70.

Expect sales to pick up for this brand over the remainder of 2020 following the arrival of the Genesis GV80 SUV and a new G80 sedan.

Chinese brands Great Wall and Haval sell in relatively small numbers too, but with the exception of the Steed 4x4 pick-up, all models sold at a higher rate for the month and the year to date.

The Great Wall Steed 4x4 found 14 fewer buyers last month than it did in August 2019, down from 50 sales to 36. But the 4x2 model found 11 more, taking the nett difference to just three sales lost, year on year. Haval’s H2, H6 and H9 SUVs are all selling in slightly higher numbers this year and for the month.

Another Chinese brand, LDV, enjoyed better results last month, year on year, and right across the eight months of 2020 to date. Both the G10 people-mover and the V80 van have lost monthly and year-to-date sales, but the D90 large SUV and the T60 ute are compensating.

Sales of the G10 van have dropped back this year, but improved for the month of August. Currently the G10 van is sitting about 120 units behind its year-to-date total in 2019.

Mercedes-Benz Vans slid backwards by 60 sales last month, but the commercial vehicle arm of the upmarket German brand is 223 sales ahead of its figure for January to August of 2019.

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is the one model line that’s a significant drag on the brand in the local market, but aggregate sales across all models have risen for the year, from 4221 sales in 2019 to 4444 sales.

MG, the British brand owned by Chinese corporate giant SAIC Motor, continues to travel well, posting sales growth of nearly 500 vehicles in August and notching up more than 8000 sales so far this year.

In just the one month, the MG HS (246 sales) sold nearly as many vehicles as the model it replaced, the MG GS, achieved in the first eight months of 2019 (263 sales).

The MG3 light hatch is selling well beyond its sales rate last year and for the month (654 for the month, versus 369 for August 2019), and the MG ZS is holding steady at just seven units behind last year for 2020 to date – 2348 in 2020 versus 2355 for 2019.

The RAM Trucks Australia dealer network sold 2252 units of the American commercial vehicles so far this year (not including independent converters). That’s 34 per cent or 571 extra sales over the figure for the same period in 2019. Sales did tail off in August, with the brand selling 58 fewer vehicles than during the same month in 2019.

While the market downturn is unprecedented, it’s not all doom and gloom for the big players.

Number one selling brand Toyota lost 4251 sales for the month, year on year, but also saw its commitment to hybrid-drive technology richly rewarded when the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid took the top step of the podium – the first time a hybrid has been Australia’s most popular vehicle.

The HiLux, which has long been Toyota’s and Australia’s best-selling model, found barely 1200 homes for the month. That’s plainly a result of running out stock ahead of the upgraded model, supplies of which are understood to be constrained.

Mazda sales have tumbled by more than 17,300 units for the year to date, and the Mazda3 has been hardest hit, posting 9665 fewer sales than it did during the first eight months of 2019, but the new Mazda CX-30 has brought 5227 additional sales for 2020.

Most models in the Mazda line-up have snared fewer sales in 2020, but the BT-50 ute range can expect to see some improvement moving forward, as the new BT-50 model, based on the Isuzu D-MAX, enters the market next month.

Hyundai has lost over 19,000 sales this year, but the upgraded i30 hatch (and new i30 sedan in lieu of the Elantra), a facelifted Santa Fe range, next-gen Sonata and all-new Palisade large SUV promise to stem the bleeding before year’s end.

August was clearly a dreadful month for sales, according to VFACTS, with the whole market experiencing a 28.8 per cent slump, year on year.

While demand for new cars has been a problem, with prospective buyers losing work or tightening their belts in anticipation of tougher times ahead, supply has also been a big issue.

Now that Australia does little in the way of vehicle assembly, we’re entirely dependent on importers and foreign manufacturers.

Many, if not all, of those manufacturers have had to close down production lines overseas for weeks or months while the coronavirus rampaged through each nation’s workforce. It’s anticipated that from here on, production and supply will begin to catch up with demand, which is also expected to rise.

Victorian dealers were hit particularly hard by both supply constraints and dwindling demand last month, when sales plummeted by nearly 66 per cent in the southern state.

Last month Victoria’s market share was 29 per cent of the total, but Melbourne’s Stage 4 lockdown last month reduced that share to less than half.

What few Victorian sales were posted in August would have been mostly rural purchases, with areas outside of the Melbourne metropolitan area restricted to Stage 3 rather than the stricter Stage 4.

The market will at least bounce back. Sales ‘lost’ in August will be found again in September or October, as and when lockdown restrictions ease in Victoria, and Melbourne specifically.